•f* 


THE   CONDESA    (LADY   NAN) 

FINDS  ONE  OF  HER  AFGHAN  ATTENDANTS  HOLDING  A  KNIFE  AGAINST  THE 

SIDE  OF  A  HOTEL  CHAMBERMAID  WHO  PROVES  TO  BE  A 

SECRET  AGENT  OF  WILHELMSTRASSE 


THE  INTERNATIONAL 
ADVENTURE  LIBRARY 


THREE  OWLS  EDITION 


THE 
UNSEEN  HAND 

Stories  of  Diplomatic  Adventure 


BY 
CLARENCE  HERBERT  NEW 


«= 


W.  R.  CALDWELL  &  CO. 

NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1918,  by 

DOUBLEDAT,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

,40  rights  reserved,  including  (not  or 

translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


',  1916,  I9If.  BT  THE  STORT  PRBSt  CORPORATION   ("THE  BLUB  BOOK  MAOAUNB") 
UNDBk  TITLE  "FREE  LANCES  IN  DIPLOMACY" 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTHB  PAGE 

I.     THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES    .     .  3 

II.     "THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR" 34 

III.  TOUCHING  UPON  THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM      .  70 

IV.  THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND    ....  106 
V.     THE  GREATER  PLOT 145 

VI.     THE  SKAGER-RACK — AND  KITCHENER  .     .  178 

VII.     THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  IN  THE  PYRENEES  213 

VIII.     A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  IN  ROUMANIA      .  246 

IX.     THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  AND  THE  GREEN 

CIRCLE .278 

X.     THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION       ....  310 

XI.     CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  RUS- 
SIAN REVOLUTION  344 


THE  UNSEEN  HAND 


THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES 

YOUNG  Simmons  had  appeared  in  Fleet  Street  as  a 
fledgling  war-correspondent  for  the  Ladies'  Farm  & 
Home  Weekly  of   Columbus,  Ohio,  having   been 
dizzily  elevated  from  the  society  column  by  a  managing 
editor  who  had  no  other  available  material.    And  he  was 
endeavoring  to  impress  a  Young-American  point  of  view 
upon  the  men  who  were  shuttling  between  St.  Bride's 
House  and  Adelphi  Terrace  while  they  waited  for  trans- 
portation and  faked  their  daily  cables  from  anything  they 
could  pick  up  around  Whitehall. 

Someone  had  put  him  up  at  the  Press  Club  as  a  matter 
of  esprit  de  corps.  Somebody  else  invited  him  to  dine  at 
the  Savage,  where  he  met  such  men  as  Palmer,  "R.  H.  D." 
Irwin,  and  other  of  the  Olympians  who  happened  to  be 
passing  through  at  the  tune.  Simmons  had  read  "Gal- 
legher,"  thought  it  a  rather  improbable  sketch,  and  ven- 
tured to  correct,  upon  some  trifling  point,  the  big  kindly 
man  who,  in  a  few'short  months,  was  to  become  only  a  mem- 
ory. He  expressed  his  convictions  upon  the  bogey  of  Euro- 
pean diplomacy — pointed  out  that  nothing  good  was  ever 
accomplished  in  world  politics  by  such  means,  and  that 

8 


4  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

all  international  relations  would  be  the  better  for  the 
wholesome  glare  of  publicity.  Which  automatically 
shunted  the  conversation  toward  Barremore,  sitting  at  a 
near-by  table. 

If  Barremore,  of  the  Associated  Press,  had  one  hobby 
which  absorbed  him  more  than  his  other  ones,  it  was  the 
running  down  of  a  supposedly  impenetrable  mystery. 
His  uncanny  instinct  for  that  sort  of  thing  was  so  well 
known  to  all  the  syndicate  representatives — Associated, 
United,  Central,  and  Renter — that  he  was  invariably 
consulted  when  any  of  them  ran  up  against  a  story  which 
seemed  to  have  neither  beginning  nor  end;  His  reputation 
for  knowing  what  not  to  print  was  so  much  a  tradition 
that  he  probably  received  more  confidential  information 
from  the  military  authorities  than  any  other  magazine  or 
newspaper  man  in  Europe — was  admitted  to  more  con- 
ferences from  which  the  Press  was  supposed  to  be  rigidly 
excluded.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the  boy's  opinions 
drew  comment  from  him — quite  to  the  point. 

"I  infer  that  you've  not  been  over  this  side  very  long, 
or  you'd  scarcely  consider  European  diplomacy  a  joke. 
You  know  something  of  the  German  propaganda  in  the 
United  States,  of  course?  And  a  little  reflection  will  tell 
you  that  even  more  strenuous  efforts  are  being  constantly 
made  by  Wilhelmstrasse  to  cause  dissension  among  the 
Allies — to  win  over  neutrals  to  Germany's  side.  Bearing 
that  in  mind,  will  you  explain  to  me  how  it  is  that  Ger- 
many's almost  superhuman  efforts  have  been,  so  far,  un- 
successful?— that  she  has  failed,  with  two  minor  ex- 
ceptions, in  every  political  coup  she  has  attempted  since 
the  war  started,  not  to  mention  the  many  before  that?" 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES   5 

There  was  material  for  consideration  in  Barremore's 
questions.  In  fact,  none  of  them  had  happened  to  get 
just  that  slant  on  the  situation  before.  But  Simmons, 
apparently,  had  not  yet  acquired  the  mental  development 
which  promptly  recognizes  incontrovertible  fact. 

"Oh,  I  think  weight  of  public  opinion  accounts  for  that 
sort  of  thing!  Surely  you  don't  take  any  stock  in  that 
Diplomatic  Free  Lance  rubbish?  I've  never  seen  the 
claim  made  that  he  was  anything  but  a  fictitious  character." 

"Nor  I,  sir.  But  some  of  us  here  are  positive  that  a 
number  of  individual  coups  attributed  to  him  actually 
have  taken  place  within  the  last  three  years.  I'll  go  even 
further:  I'll  bet  a  hundred  dollars  that  practically  every 
bit  of  diplomatic  strategy  which  has  been  credited  to  this 
same  mysterious  "Free  Lance"  will  prove  authentic  if 
the  secret  history  of  this  war  is  ever  written!  Because — 
if  they  were  entirely  imaginary,  Germany  would  be  a 
darned  sight  nearer  victory  than  she  is  to-day.  It's  only 
circumstantial  evidence,  of  course,  but  every  newspaper 
man  who  has  been  on  this  job  for  a  year  or  more  will 
admit  the  belief  that  some  unseen  hand  has  intervened — 
not  once,  but  fifty  times  since  1914 — to  save  England  from 
disaster,  and,  in  so  doing,  unquestionably  preserved  the 
structure  of  modern  civilization  that  we  have  so  labor- 
iously built  up.  Whose  hand  it  was,  we  may  never  know; 
most  of  its  work  could  not  have  been  accomplished  if  his 
identity  were  known — or  that  of  others  who  have  pre- 
sumably assisted  him.  But  to  express  disbelief  in  the 
momentous  part  which  diplomatic  intrigue  is  constantly 
playing  in  this  war  is  to  ignore  one  of  the  most  self-evident 
facts  concerning  it." 


6  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Judging  by  the  silent  assent  to  these  statements,  the 
Associated  man's  opinions  were  so  evidently  authoritative 
that  Simmons  had  the  good  taste  to  subside  a  little.  Pres- 
ently Barremore,  and  Grant,  of  the  United  Press,  saun- 
tered out  of  the  club,  across  to  the  Cecil — undecided  as  to 
how  they  were  to  spend  the  evening,  but  with  the  hope 
of  running  across  some  of  the  leading  Government  men. 
For  the  Cecil  is  somewhat  of  a  rendezvous  these  days, 
with  a  noticeable  substitution  of  khaki  for  evening  clothes 
and  a  more  democratic  mixture  of  officers  than  under  the 
old  regime.  As  they  looked  about  for  comfortable  seats, 
a  handsome  and  rather  distinguished-appearing  man  in  the 
sixties  looked  up  from  his  paper  with  an  expression  of 
pleased  surprise.  One  would  have  had  little  difficulty  hi 
guessing  him  to  be  an  American  from  a  Southern  state — 
an  ex-Confederate,  by  his  gray  felt  hat,  white  moustache, 
and  imperial.  As  he  rose  from  his  chair  and  advanced 
toward  them,  Barremore  turned  around. 

"Well— I'll— be— darned!  Look  who's  here,  Grant! 
Colonel  Dinwiddie,  you're  about  the  last  man  I  expected 
to  see  in  London  just  now,  but  I'm  dev'lish  glad  you're 
here!  How  did  it  happen?  State  Department  detail, 
I  suppose?  You  must  remember  Grant?  Used  to  be  in 
Washington  for  the  Tribune,  several  years  ago." 

"Majo*  Barremo',  suh,  this  is  a  great  pleasuh!  Mistuh 
Grant,  I  remembeh  yo'  perfectly,  suh!  Yo'  were  a  con- 
nection of  the  General's — and  yo'  good  motheh  was  Sally 
Clay,  of  Culpeppeh  County,  Vuhginny.  Of  cou'se  I  re- 
membeh yo'!  Gentlemen,  this  London  place  I  find  is 
scan'lously  dry,  but  I  have — uh — ascertained  the  methods 
by  which  anyone  in  need  of  refreshment  may  obtain 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES   T 

something  in  the  natuh  of  a  julep.  Not  a  properly  con- 
structed one,  of  cou'se — but  sufficiently  resembling  the  real 
thing  to  ansuh  the  purpose  temporarily.  Shall  we — eh? 
Will  yo'  do  me  the  hono'?" 

Having  experienced  considerable  difficulty  in  getting 
anything  so  like  a  breath  from  home,  during  their  sojourn 
in  England,  they  accepted  the  Colonel's  hospitality — 
afterward  returning  to  the  smoking  lounge  near  the  great 
dining  room,  where  they  seated  themselves,  to  watch  the 
occasional  celebrities  as  they  came  out,  and  chat  over  old 
times  in  Washington. 

"You're  still  connected  with  the  State  Department, 
Colonel?" 

"Yes,  suh.  In  one  capacity  or  anotheh,  I've  served 
through  seven  administrations.  I  suppose  my  position 
amounts  to  something  like  a  Fou'th  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State — the  person  who  has  served  in  the  Depa'tment  until 
he  knows  the  wo'ding  of  every  treaty — the  political  status 
of  every  man  connected  with  otheh  Gov'ments.  It  was 
that  so't  of  knowledge  which  made  it  advisable  that  I 
should  be  where  Ambassado'  Page  might  consult  me 
frequently,  fo'  a  month  or  so.  It  was  an  oppo'tunity  fo' 
seeing  London  and  France  which  I  was  really  much 
pleased  to  accept." 

As  they  were  chatting  over  affairs  in  the  States,  a 
smooth-shaven  man  of  striking  appearance  came  out  of 
the  big  dining  room  with  a  woman  whose  beauty  and  taste 
in  dress  attracted  general  attention.  They  were  in  con- 
ventional dinner-clothes,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  man 
was  more  accustomed  to  uniform  and  that  they  were  both 
well-known  personages.  As  Colonel  Dinwiddie  caught 


8  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

sight  of  them,  he  abruptly  stopped  talking,  took  a  second 
look,  and  rose  from  his  chair.  He  was  approaching  the 
man  with  outstretched  hand  before  the  war  correspon- 
dents could  stop  him  and  whisper  that  he  might  be  making 
a  mistake. 

"Mistuh'Grisscome,  suh,  this  is  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful suhprises  of  my  life!  It  must  be  fifteen  yeahs  since  I 
last  had  the  pleasure  of  talking  with  yo'  at  the  State 
Department  in  Washington!  I  really  feahed  yo'  might 
be  no  longer  living,  suh!" 

Now  the  personage  was  a  man  of  rare  tact  and  demo- 
cratic ideas — qualities  which  had  been  partly  respon- 
sible for  his  wide  popularity.  He  saw  at  a  glance — as  did 
his  charming  companion — that  the  elderly  gentleman  was 
quite  honest  in  his  supposed  recognition  of  an  old  friend. 
So  he  grasped  the  outstretched  hand  with  courteous 
warmth,  to  gain  time  while  he  decided  how  to  explain  the 
mistake  without  making  it  too  embarrassing  for  the 
genial  Southerner.  Barremore,  however,  had  got  his 
wits  together  by  this  time,  and  came  to  the  rescue. 

"Your  Lordship,  may  I  present  my  old  friend,  Colonel 
Jefferson  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia  and  Washington — at 
present  attached  to  our  Embassy  in  London!  Colonel, 

this  is  His  Lordship,  Rear  Admiral,  the  Earl  of  S . 

You  supposed  him  an  American  whom  you'd  known  very 
well;  of  course — case  of  misleading  resemblance." 

A  flush  of  mortification  crept  into  the  handsome  old 
Virginian's  face,  but — as  he  took  another  look  at  the  Earl 
— it  was  succeeded  by  an  expression  of  mystification. 
The  resemblance  was  so  unbelievably  perfect — allowing, 
of  course,  for  the  slight  changes  of  fifteen  years.  He  was 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES   9 

beginning  to  apologize  for  his  mistake  when  the  Earl 
courteously  stopped  him. 

"If  you're  connected  with  the  American  Embassy, 
Colonel,  we  should  know  each  other,  anyhow,  and  I'm 
really  obliged  to  Mr.  Barremore  for  the  introduction. 
Being  taken  for  someone  else  is  not  an  unusual  experience, 
I  assure  you!  Sometimes,  I  fancy  I  must  have  grown 
from  a  standardized  pattern.  And  it's  quite  possible 
that  we  have  met,  don't  you  know.  I'm  frequ'ntly  in  the 
States — know  a  lot  of  your  Governm'nt  people.  Er — 
my  dear"  [turning  to  the  Countess,  who  had  been  a 
smiling  and  interested  spectator],  "let  me  present  Colonel 
Dinwiddie.  Mr.  Barremore  you  already  know.  We 
must  have  quite  a  number  of  mutual  acquaintances, 
Colonel.  Er — why  not  compare  notes  some  evening? 
Let's  see?  I  believe  we're  dining  at  home,  Thursday 
evening — in  Park  Lane.  Could  you  gentlemen  come  to 
us  then?  No  other  engagem'nt,  I  hope?  Very  good! 
We'll  expect  you,  then,  at  seven-thirty." 

As  they  returned  to  where  Grant  was  sitting,  the 
Colonel  was  dazed.  Barremore  was  trying  to  puzzle  out 
something  which  eluded  him. 

"Must  have  been  a  pretty  striking  resemblance, 
Colonel?" 

"My  boy — I'm  feeling  a  little  anxiety  about  myself — 
really!  Must  be  feeling  my  age  more  than  I  supposed. 
I  don't  think  I  eveh  made  a  mistake  like  that  befo'  in 
my  life !  Why,  I  would  sweah  to  yo',  even  now,  that  His 
Lo'dship  is  Mistuh  Cyrus  K.  Grisscome — a  very  wealthy 
Bostonian  who  did  some  valuable  secret  service  wo'k 
fo'  ou'  Gov'ment  during  the  Roosevelt  administration. 


10  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

He  was  carried  on  the  Navy  Register  three  or  fo'  yeahs  as 
Commander  Crespinge,  and  his  yacht  was  used  as  a  fast 
scout  cruiser.  But — of  cou'se — that's  impossible!  It's 
merely  one  of  those  stahtling  resemblances  yo*  read  about 
in  wo'ks  of  fiction.  I  can  sca'cely  express  to  yo'  my 
appreciation  of  his  cou'tesy  in  smoothing  oveh  my  blundeh. 
The  invitation,  of  cou'se,  was  merely  a  part  of  it — which  we 
must  decline  with  a  note  of  thanks,  to-morrow.  It  was 
very  tactfully  done!" 

"It  certainly  was,  Colonel!  His  Lordship  and  Coun- 
tess Mona  are  among  the  most  popular  couples  in  Europe 
to-day.  And  you'll  not  make  the  mistake  of  declining 
their  invitation,  either!  Under  the  circumstances,  it  was 
a  most  unusual  and=courteousthingtodo — wouldn't  happen 
once  in  a  million  times,  over  here.  But  he  meant  it.  We 
shall  be  expected  in  Park  Lane  on  Thursday  evening — and 
I  can  assure  you  that  many  of  our  American  society  climbers 
would  pay  a  round  five  thousand  in  cash  to  substitute  for 
us.  I'm  wondering — just  wondering — whether  he  had  any 
object  behind  natural  kindness  in  that  invitation?" 

Next  day,  when  Grant  and  Barremore  stepped  into  the 
Press  Club  in  Salisbury  Square,  one  of  the  Reuter  men, 
who  had  been  glancing  through  a  copy  of  the  Kolnische 
Morgenblatt,  commenced  to  chuckle  over  an  article  until 
some  of  the  other  men  asked  what  was  amusing  him  so  much. 

"The  German  mind!  The  ponderous  workings  of  the 
German  mind!  Listen  to  this,  will  you!"  (Translating, 
as  he  read): 

_f  evidence  were  needed  to  show  what  utter  fools  the  English 
are — how  far  they  still  wander  from  a  realization  of  our  purpose 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES      11 

and  determination — one  should  merely  note  their  continued 
failure  to  take  us  seriously  after  the  two  last  bloody  years.  In 
spite  of  the  fact  that  we  are  regularly  obtaining  details  of  their 
army  and  naval  plans  far  in  advance  of  their  own  Parliament, 
they  stupidly  assume  that  all  danger  from  our  perfect  spy  system 
has  been  reduced  to  a  negligible  minimum.  Their  newspapers 
discuss  dangerous  questions,  and  their  magazines  enlarge  upon 
them,  quite  as  if  it  were  impossible  for  us  to  obtain  copies  of 
them.  One  of  the  Cassell  monthlies,  for  example,  devotes  quite 
a  lengthy  article  to  an  identification  of  the  infamous  "Diplo- 
matic Free  Lance"  and  his  associates.  This  man,  it  will  be 
remembered — by  the  most  contemptible  betrayal  of  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  former  German  hosts,  who  had  entertained 
him  and  the  woman  masquerading  as  his  wife,  upon  the  sup- 
position that  they  were  people  of  breeding  who  belonged  to  the 
aristocracy — has  been  the  solitary  exception  among  Englishmen 
to  prove  really  dangerous  to  us,  and  a  rope  is  waiting  for  him  as 
soon  as  he  is  caught.  Various  conjectures  have  been  made  by 
Wilhelmstraase  as  to  his  identity — but  the  truth  is  now  kindly 
volunteered  for  us  by  the  fools  across  the  Channel.  It  seems  that 
he  is — as  we  have  been  morally  certain  for  some  time — a  sport- 
crazed  English  peer  who  has  never  been  credited  with  the  slight- 
est political  ability — Lord  Trevor,  of  Dartmoor.  In  his  nefar- 
ious and  unprincipled  schemes  against  us,  he  has  been  assisted 
by  the  woman  known  as  Lady  Nan  Trevor;  by  a  Sir  Francis 
Lammerf ord,  who  was  once  dismissed  from  the  English  Foreign 
Office  for  conduct  unbecoming  a  gentleman  and  diplomat;  by  a 
blackamoor  servant,  calling  himself  an  Afghan  prince;  by  a  Sir 
Edward  Wray,  whose  thinly  veiled  name  is  easily  recognizable 
by  every  German  who  recalls  the  black  treachery  of  August,  1914; 
by  an  unprincipled  attache  of  the  American  Embassy  in  Paris; 
and  by  the  old  reprobate,  Cavaliere  Scarp ia,  in  Italy.  Editori- 
ally, we  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  Messrs.  Cassell  &  Co. 


12  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

for  receipt  of  their  magazine — with  the  information  contained — 
and  express  our  conviction  that  this  choice  association  of 
criminals  will  mysteriously  die  on  their  own  ground,  in  one  way 
or  another,  within  a  few  weeks. 


As  the  Reuter  man  finished  the  paragraph,  there  was  a 
roar  of  laughter  around  the  room. 

"The  bloomin'  blighters!  The  confidin'  systematic 
babes  in  the  wood!  They  read  a  bloomin'  magazine 
story  clear  through  from  start  to  finish — written  by  a  man 
who's  not  even  English,  I'm  told — an*  then  are  so  dem- 
nition  thick  they  don't  even  know  it's  pure  fiction!  My 
word!  What  a  beastly  lot  of  rotters!  Fancy  then- never 
even  turnin'  up  Burke  or  Debrett  an'  findin'  there  are  no 
such  people  as  Viscount  Trevor  of  Dartmoor  or  Sir  Francis 
Lammerford  hi  the  British  Peerage!" 

"Aye!  But — stop  a  bit!  There  are  quite  enough 
Trevors  and  Wrays  to  give  the  massive  German  mind  an 
impression  that  it  is  on  the  right  track.  One  Englishman 
is  like  another  of  the  same  name  to  'em,  you  know;  an* 
it'd  be  just  like  'em  to  attempt  exterminatin'  a  whole 
family  until  they  were  jolly  well  sure  they'd  struck  the 
right  one,  don't  you  know!" 

"Oh,  thunder!  If  an  editor  doesn't  know  a  purely 
imaginary  story  when  he  reads  it,  he'd  better  get  a  job 
shovelling  coal!" 

"How  did  this  Diplomatic  Free  Lance  business  start — 
anyhow?" 

"Blessed  if  I  know!  Several  years  ago — when  all 
Europe  was  holding  its  breath  over  the  audacity  of  a  bril- 
liant coup  by  England — I  asked  an  Under  Secretary  in 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES  13 

Downing  Street  if  one  of  their  men  was  responsible  for  it. 
He  said,  most  emphatically,  no!  Said  that  Government 
could  never  have  authorized  the  methods  used  nor 
recognized,  publicly,  the  man  who  scored  for  it.  He  be- 
lieved it  could  have  been  done  by  nobody  save  a  man 
'working  on  his  own' — as  a  free  lance.  Well,  other 
coups  have  followed  that  one  in  rapid  succession — par- 
ticularly since  the  war  started — until  anything  for  which 
there's  no  accounting  is  set  down  as  the  work  of  England's 
mysterious  Free  Lance.  Whether  that  magazine  chap 
originated  the  idea  as  pure  fiction,  or  whether  he's  some- 
body really  in  the  know  and  taking  that  method  of  record- 
ing actual  underground  history,  may  never  be  definitely 
published.  But  I'll  say  this  much:  I  know  of  at  least 
eighteen  separate  instances  where  coups  described  as  the 
work  of  this  mysterious  English  Free  Lance  have  actually 
been  verified  two  or  three  months  later.  It's  legend — 
a  joke,  if  you  like — Baron  Munchausen  and  Sherlock 
Holmes  combined,  gossip,  hearsay,  pure  fiction,  as  far  as 
anything  that  Germany  really  knows.  And  yet — I've  got 
a  hundred  quid  in  my  pocket  that  says  it's  all  of  ninety 
per  cent,  fact!  And  I'm  talking  as  an  Associated  Press 
man  who  has  been  writing  European  politics  for  all  of 
twenty  years — who  has  stayed  with  this  war  since  the  day 
the  Germans  entered  Luxembourg." 

Although  the  topic  was  merely  one  of  casual  discussion 
when  newspaper  men  had  exhausted  pretty  well  every- 
thing else,  Barremore  was  becoming  obsessed  by  it. 
Suppose  the  anecdotes,  the  magazine  stories,  the  German 
comment,  were  actually  the  outcroppings  of  a  far-reaching 
influence  in  the  war  which,  for  obvious  reasons,  could  not 


14  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

be  made  public  until  the  lapse  of  time  nullified  the  danger 
of  such  a  revelation?  Suppose  the  magazine  man  respon- 
sible for  the  fiction  was  really  on  the  inside — using  this 
method  of  preserving  for  future  generations  a  record  of 
the  actual  secret-service  work  that  was  silently  doing 
more  than  armies  or  submarines  toward  swinging  the 
balance  of  final  decision  against  the  Teutonic  empires? 
According  to  the  law  of  averages,  it  was  probable  that 
some,  if  not  all,  of  those  associated  with  the  Free  Lance 
would  lose  their  lives  before  the  end  of  the  war  as  a  natural 
result  of  their  activities.  The  pitchers  cannot  forever 
go  to  the  well  immune.  Suppose — the  Free  Lances  being 
killed,  and  their  chronicler  also  passing  away  without 
revealing  their  identity — all  record  of  this  vital  force  in 
the  war  should  be  lost  to  future  readers  of  history. 

Barremore,  of  course,  recognized  that,  even  were  he  in 
possession  of  the  real  facts,  he  could  not  publish  them — 
certainly  not  until  after  the  death  of  those  concerned; 
which  meant  that  any  time  he  spent  in  probing  the  mys- 
tery would  represent  just  that  much  unproductive  labor 
for  several  years  at  least.  But  his  pride  as  a  journalist 
— his  sense  of  loyal  obligation  eventually  to  place  credit 
where  credit  was  due — made  him  the  more  determined  to 
ferret  out  the  truth.  During  the  next  two  days — while 
waiting  for  cable  news  to  break — he  spent  several  hours  in 

the  British  Museum  looking  up  the  "S "  peerage,  the 

records  of  several  county  families,  and  everything  he  could 
find  on  India  during  the  late  90's.  Then  he  called  upon 
three  retired  East  Indians — giving  the  impression  that  he 
was  collecting  data  for  a  book  on  Indian  society  during 
the  period  when  they  were  in  office — and  obtained  a  mass 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     15 

of  apparently  trivial  information  from  which,  upon  com- 
paring it  with  what  he  already  had,  he  drew  some  rather 
amazing  deductions. 

He  was  doing  for  the  Associated  Press  a  series  of  inter- 
views with  men  and  women  then  prominent  in  London. 
One  of  these — the  Condesa  de  la  Montaneta — was  occupy- 
ing, with  her  Moorish  servants,  a  suite  at  the  Carlton. 
She  was  a  wealthy  Spanish  widow  who  had  come  to 
England  with  letters  of  introduction  which  promptly 
opened  the  doors  of  London's  most  exclusive  aristocracy 
to  her,  and  had  become,  within  a  few  weeks,  exceedingly 
popular.  It  was  understood  that  she  had  rented  a  pied-tl- 
terre  with  several  unusual  features,  somewhere  in  Bel- 
gravia,  and  was  staying  at  the  Carlton  until  it  should  be 
ready  for  her.  A  description  of  this  little  house,  with 
personal  data  concerning  its  mistress,  being  the  sort  of 
thing  Barremore  was  obtaining  for  his  syndicate,  he  se- 
cured an  interview  one  afternoon  when  she  had  returned 
from  a  week-end  in  Surrey. 

Within  five  minutes,  he  found  himself  yielding  to  the 
fascination  of  her  undeniable  beauty  and  Castilian  accent. 
She  was  seated  at  a  davenport  between  two  windows  when 
he  was  admitted  to  her  suite,  and  excused  herself  long 
enough  to  address  some  envelopes  before  turning  around 
to  chat  with  him.  Her  profile,  in  the  somewhat  darkened 
room,  was  squarely  against  the  window  at  her  left;  some- 
how, it  seemed  oddly  familiar.  In  the  course  of  his  jour- 
nalistic experience,  he  had  learned  to  distinguish  between 
the  essentials  in  a  person's  appearance  or  manner  and  the 
little  accessories  which,  so  frequently,  made  up  an  almost 
impenetrable  disguise.  Of  these  essentials,  the  most 


16  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

important  is  the  profile,  which  may  be  somewhat  altered, 
but  very  seldom  in.  And  the  Condesa's  impressed  itself 
upon  his  mental  retina  with  the  clear-cut  familiarity  of  the 
head  on  a  new  silver  dime.  In  no  other  detail  did  she 
resemble  any  one  he  knew,  save  as  a  general  brunette 
type.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour — when  he  was  rising 
from  his  chair  to  go — it  came  upon  him  with  stunning 
force  that  her  profile  was  identical  with  that  of  Mona, 
Countess  of  S . 

Now  Countess  Mona,  while  by  no  means  a  blonde,  was 
enough  lighter  in  the  tones  of  her  complexion  and  hair  to 
make  it  seem  almost  impossible  that  dyes  alone  could  be 
responsible  for  the  difference,  and  stood  about  five  feet 
four — as  nearly  as  Barremore  could  remember.  As  she 
gave  him  her  hand  in  parting,  Madame  la  Condesa  was 
all  of  five  feet  seven — her  eyes  were  but  an  inch  or  two 
lower  than  his  own.  A  different  arrangement  of  the  hair 
made  the  Condesa's  face  appear  much  fuller.  She  was  a 
heavier  woman  by  two  or  three  stone  than  the  Countess 
Mona,  if  appearances  could  be  trusted.  The  expression, 
the  play  of  features,  was  different — as  was  the  taste  in 
clothes.  Yet — the  profiles  were  identical;  and  that  of 
Madame  la  Condesa  was  not  in  keeping  with  her  face  at 
other  angles.  It  was  the  clean-cut  outline  of  a  more 
slender  woman's  face. 

From  the  Carlton,  Barremore  strolled  westward  to 
Park  Lane.  Walking  along  by  the  Park  railing,  he 
studied  the  appearance  of  the  houses  opposite  and  tried 
to  recall  something  connected  with  one  of  the  blocks  when 
he  had  first  visited  London,  as  a  young  fellow,  several 
years  before.  Presently,  he  remembered  that  an  older 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     17 

building  had  been  torn  down  to  make  way  for  the  foun- 
dations of  a  new  house,  then  hi  process  of  erection.  He 
had  walked  through  the  lot  to  its  rear  on  Park  Street, 
curious  as  to  the  object  of  certain  excavations,  forty  feet 
below  the  ground-level.  At  the  time,  he  had  supposed  a 
public  building  of  some  sort  was  being  erected  upon  the 
site,  and  soon  forgot  the  peculiar  excavations.  But  he 
now  recalled  their  exact  appearance,  and,  though  he 
couldn't  definitely  locate  the  lot,  saw  that  it  must  be 
either  the  one  covered  by  a  detached  Jacobean  resi- 
dence, or  that  containing  a  block  of  four  city  houses 
adjoining  it.  That  the  excavations  he  remembered  could 
have  been  intended  for  the  foundations  of  the  four  houses, 
was  out  of  the  question — they  didn't  correspond  in  rela- 
tive position  or  outline.  Which  apparently  settled  the 
question  as  to  their  having  been  used  for  the  Jacobean 
mansion  or  vaults  under  its  surrounding  grounds.  The 
mansion  was  the  well-known  town  residence  of  the  Earl 

and  Countess  of  S . 

Next  evening,  when  he  and  Colonel  Dinwiddie  reached 
the  house,  they  were  introduced  to  four  other  guests  in  the 
drawing  room.  As  the  party  sat  down  to  dinner,  Barre- 
more  encouraged  the  lady  at  his  right  to  describe  her  ex- 
periences as  a  Red  Cross  nurse  while  he  covertly  studied 
his  fellow  guests  and  tried  to  recall  what  he'd  heard  con- 
cerning them.  The  gentleman  opposite — a  tall  spare 
man  whose  strongly  marked  face  expressed  power  and 

mentality — was  a  Baron  W ,  who  had  been  for  many 

years  in  the  Diplomatic  service  but  was  now  supposed  to 
be  serving  for  the  duration  of  the  war  in  some  other  capac- 
ity. From  stray  remarks  overheard  elsewhere,  also 


18  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

from  their  manner  of  addressing  him,  the  war  corres- 
pondent inferred  that  he  had  been  an  intimate  friend  of 
the  Earl  and  Countess  Mona  for  many  years. 

Another  man  with  an  air  of  distinction,  near  the  end  of 
the  table,  might  have  been  taken  for  an  Englishman  who 
had  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  tropics — unless  the 
observer  happened  to  be  expert  in  ethnographic  distinc- 
tions. His  clipped  moustache  had  the  typical  English 
cut;  his  manner  of  expressing  himself  was  essentially  Eng- 
lish. But  to  a  close  observer  who  knew  something  of 
racial  peculiarities,  he  was  unmistakably  Oriental — pre- 
sumably Hindu  or  Afghan.  Barremore  remembered  him 
as  Sir  Muhammad  Jubbur  Khan  Bahadur,  G.C.S.I., 

brother  of  the  Maharajah  of  J .     Educated  at  Oxford 

and  maintaining,  for  many  years,  a  beautifully  furnished 
London  residence  on  Grosvenor  Square,  he  was  a  well- 
known  figure  among  the  clubmen,  a  wealthy  man  of  con- 
siderable influence  in  Indian  affairs,  but  so  thoroughly 
British  in  manner  and  appearance  that  his  name  came  as  a 
surprise  in  any  introduction.  It  occurred  to  the  journalist 
subconsciously  that  from  the  rear  entrance  of  the  Earl's 
grounds  on  Park  Street  to  Sir  Muhammad's  house,  was 
but  a  few  steps — two  or  three  blocks  at  the  outside. 

As  they  adjourned  for  coffee  and  cigars  to  a  big  library 
at  the  right  of  the  main  hall,  Barremore  was  struck  with  a 
haunting  sense  of  familiarity.  Hours  later  it  occurred  to 
him  that  the  room  had  been  almost  photographically 
described  in  stories  of  the  Diplomatic  Free  Lance,  but  his 
mind  was  occupied  at  the  time  with  an  estimate  as  to  the 
thickness  of  the  outer  wall  behind  the  bookcases  which 
lined  the  south  side  of  the  library.  The  window  embras- 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     19 

ures  gave  an  impression  of  ordinary  thickness  for  the  walls 
of  such  a  house.  He  remembered,  however,  that,  viewed 
from  the  outside,  there  had  seemed  to  be  a  six-foot  ex- 
tension to  that  wing,  unaccounted  for  in  the  regular  shape 
of  the  room — which  brought  back  a  recollection  of  the 
original  excavations  again. 

Colonel  Dinwiddie  proved  a  decided  success  as  a  dinner 
guest.  The  finished  representative  of  gentlemen  planters 
for  several  generations  in  Virginia,  he  was  a  desirable 
acquisition  to  any  social  gathering,  while  thirty  years' 
experience  in  the  State  Department  of  the  United  States 
had  given  him  a  knowledge  of  the  world's  political  history 
which  any  university  would  have  been  glad  to  secure  for  its 
faculty.  As  Barremore  noted  the  attention  given  the 
Colonel  by  His  Lordship  and  two  of  his  guests,  it 
seemed  to  him  that  for  some  occult  reason  the  Virginian 
was  really  the  guest  of  honor  that  evening.  When  they 

were  in  the  big  library,  Baron  W called  his  attention 

to  some  of  the  family  portraits  on  the  walls. 

"As  a  descendant  of  the  old  county  families,  Colonel, 
you  doubtless  have  some  of  these  portraits  by  Rey- 
nolds, Lawrence,  and  Romney  on  your  own  walls. 
What  I  wished  to  point  out,  however,  was  the  curious 
repetition  of  family  traits  through  succeeding  generations. 
Notice,  for  example,  the  striking  resemblance  between 

Lord  Francis  S ,  painted  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  and  his 

grandson,  Colonel  Viscount  S ,  painted  by  Reynolds 

so  many  years  later.  (Er — would  Your  Lordship  mind 
standing  just  under  the  Viscount's  portrait  for  a  moment? 
Thanks!)  You  see,  Colonel?  His  Lordship  might  have  sat 
for  either  of  those  paintings — done  long  before  he  was 


20  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

born.  Odd,  how  a  strain  will  perpetuate  itself  like  that 
through  all  the  intermarriages — isn't  it!" 

Again,  something  vaguely  aroused  speculation  in  Barre- 
more's  thoughts  as  to  whether  this  little  by-play  upon  the 
part  of  His  Lordship's  most  intimate  friend  could  have 
been  premeditated — could  have  been  deliberately  thought 
out — for  a  purpose?  To  anyone  who  had  mistaken  the 
Earl  for  someone  else,  it  was  about  as  conclusive  proof 
concerning  his  identity  and  that  of  his  ancestors  as  could 
be  offered.  There  were  the  portraits — so  genuinely 
Romneys  and  Lawrences  that  there  was  no  doubting  the 
period  in  which  they  had  been  painted.  There  was  the 
living  descendant  of  the  originals.  There  was  no  getting 
away  from  the  close  resemblance.  Yet  the  more  Barre- 
more  thought  it  over,  the  more  convinced  he  became  that 
a  theory  which  had  been  persistently  growing  in  his  mind 
was  absolutely  correct. 

Walking  through  Green  Park  toward  the  American 
Embassy,  shortly  after  midnight — when  the  settling  down 
of  a  black  fog  made  it  temporarily  impossible  to  get  any 
bearings — he  and  the  Colonel  stumbled  upon  a  bench,  and 
sat  down  to  smoke  a  cigar  in  the  hope  that  the  mist 
would  presently  lift.  Muffled  sounds  came  to  them  from 
beyond  the  Park  limits,  but  after  listening  intently  they 
decided  that  nobody  else  had  ventured  through  that  part 
of  the  Park  in  the  murk. 

After  a  momentary  silence,  it  occurred  to  the  war- 
correspondent  that  no  safer  place  could  be  found  in  Lon- 
don for  a  discussion  of  the  Free  Lance  mystery  with  the 
Colonel — and  the  necessity  for  such  a  discussion  appeared 
unquestionable,  if  the  Virginian  was  to  understand  the 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     21 

danger  of  any  reference  to  his  supposed  recognition  of  an 

old  friend  in  His  Lordship  of  S ,  as  Barremore  saw 

it. 

"Colonel,  I  believe  we've  stumbled  upon  something 
that  Germany  would  give  each  of  us  a  million  to  know! — 
something  which  any  unscrupulous  newspaper  man  would 
publish,  regardless  of  consequences.  Do  you  remember 
all  of  those  names  which  the  Kolnische  Morgenblatt  quoted 
from  that  story  in  the  Cassell  magazine?  " 

"Yes,  suh — I  may  say  that  I  certainly  do!  Yo'  must 
remembeh  that  I  have  read  articles  concerning  this  mys- 
terious Free  Lance  befo' — so  am  quite  familiah  with  the 
names  of  his  supposed  associates.  Even  as  fiction,  you 
know,  that  so't  of  thing  would  natu'ly  be  of  interest  to  one 
in  my  official  position." 

"Exactly!  And  you  can  understand  my  interest  in  it. 
Colonel,  I've  been  digging  a  little  since  you  met  the  Earl 
in  the  Cecil,  the  other  evening,  and  I've  turned  up  some 
rather  amazing  isolated  facts  which  fit  together  like  pieces 
of  a  Chinese  puzzle.  But,  in  discussing  them,  we  must 
avoid  mentioning  real  names.  Suppose  we  assume  his 
family  name  to  be  ' Trevor,'  instead  of  what  it  is?  Suppose 
we  call  his  most  intimate  friend  '  Sir  Francis  Lammerford,' 

instead  of  'Baron  W ,'  and  his  wife,  'Lady  Nan 

Trevor,'  instead  of  'Countess  M ?'  Suppose  we  men- 
tion another  most  intimate  friend  as  Sir  Abdool  Mo- 
hammed Khan,  instead  of  'Sir  M J Khan 

Bahadur'?  And  understand  that  'Sir  Edward  Wray'  is 
a  thinly  veiled  reference  to  their  friend  in  Downing 
Street?  Get  me?  Understand  what  I'm  driving  at?" 

"I  follow  yo',  suh— pehfectly!" 


22  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Good!  And  you'll  know  exactly  who  I'm  really  talk- 
ing about  when  I  mention  any  of  those  names?" 

"Pehfectly,  suh.  I  see  yo'  reason  fo'  the  precaution — 
even  out  heah  in  this  fog." 

"All  right.  I'm  going  to  give  you  a  little  biographical 
sketch  as  I  see  it;  and  I'll  say,  frankly,  that  I've  had  proof 
enough  to  satisfy  me. 

"We'll  go  back  to  the  time  when  Cyrus  K.  Grisscome — 
the  only  surviving  member  of  a  well-known  Boston  family 
— began  piling  up  money  in  Western  mines  and  railway 
development  before  he  was  thirty-five.  He  proved  a 
splendid  organizer  and  executive,  but  his  greatest  ability 
was  shown  in  his  knowledge  of  men  and  human  motives. 
As  a  boy  in  high  school,  geography  and  history  were  fads 
with  him.  When  he  could  afford  it,  he  fitted  up  a  large, 
fast  yacht  with  scientific  apparatus  for  marine  study. 
Roosevelt  had  a  good  many  common  interests  with  him; 
they  cruised  together  for  a  couple  of  months.  When  he 
became  President  and  began  to  give  us  a  real  Diplomatic 
Service  for  the  first  time  in  American  history,  Grisscomc 
made  occasional  suggestions  which  proved  exceedingly 
valuable — so  much  so,  that  he  was  finally  induced  to 
undertake  secret  and  delicate  work  that  couldn't  be  recog- 
nized by  any  Government,  if  successful,  or  the  secret  agent 
saved  if  he  happened  to  be  caught  at  it.  Grisscome  was 
successful — almost  unbelievably  so — for  several  years. 
Then  the  Taft  administration  came  in.  Grisscome's 
services  and  character  were  neither  understood  nor  appre- 
ciated. He  could  get  no  backing  without  red-tape  ex- 
planations that  would  have  been  simply  impossible  in  the 
circumstances.  Our  Diplomatic  Service  became  about 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     23 

what  it  had  been  before  the  Roosevelt  administration — 
which  expresses  the  condition,  adequately.  Grisscome 
was  thoroughly  disgusted.  He  had  money  to  burn — 
arranged  for  an  indefinite  absence,  put  his  mining  affairs 
in  the  hands  of  his  Western  partner,  and  left  on  his  yacht 
for  a  protracted  stay  in  the  Orient.  Get  me — so  far?  " 

"Yes,  suh;  yo'  are  entirely  correct  in  rega'd  to  Mistuh 
Grisscome's  connection  with  ou'  Gov'ment.  I  can  vouch 
fo'  that." 

"Well,  in  the  Hong  Kong  Club,  he  met  John  Satterlee, 
the  ship  speculator,  and  his  friend  Culpeper  Zandtt,  the 
war-correspondent.  They  put  through  a  couple  of  big 
deals  together.  Then  Grisscome  drifted  up  through  the 
Khyber  Pass  into  Afghanistan.  Happened  to  save  the 
life  of  a  young  khan  who  had  been  educated  at  Oxford  and 
whose  family  was  even  older  than  the  Ameer's.  Abdool 
Mohammed  attached  himself  to  Grisscome  as  a  friend 
and  exploring  companion,  feeling  instinctively  that  the 
American  was  a  born  leader  and  a  great  personage  in  his 
own  country.  They  drifted  down  into  the  Madras  Pres- 
idency— were  hunting  in  the  back  country  of  Mysore 
when  they  ran  across  a  mighty  sick  English  baronet  in  an 
abandoned  dak  bungalow,  his  servant  having  run  away 
from  what  he  supposed  to  be  cholera  but  which  proved  to 
be  enteric.  It  wasn't  long  before  Abdool  was  struck  with 
the  marvelous  resemblance  between  Grisscome  and  the 
Englishman,  who  had  been  a  Deputy  Commissioner  in 
Madras,  his  family  estate  in  Devonshire  having  been  gam- 
bled away  in  the  time  of  George  the  Fourth.  Sir  George 
Trevor  grew  steadily  weaker  and  died  ten  days  later,  but, 
while  they  stayed  there  taking  care  of  him,  he  told  Griss- 


24  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

come  a  great  deal  about  his  life,  his  family  connections  and 
friends — went  into  it  so  minutely,  as  dying  men  often  do, 
that  Grisscome,  who  had  one  of  those  marvelous  photo- 
graphic memories,  got  a  pretty  complete  mental  picture 
of  the  baronet's  history  and  personality." 

"  Go  on,  suh !  I  find  yo'  narrative  vastly  interesting.' 
"Sir  George  left  a  few  papers  with  data  containing  the 
names  of  his  family  solicitors,  addresses  and  photographs 
of  London  friends,  and  a  few  simple  matters  to  be  wound 
up.  When  Grisscome  reached  Madras,  three  different 
persons  stopped  him  on  the  streets,  addressing  him  as  Sir 
George  Trevor,  and  congratulating  him  upon  his  improved 
health.  For  a  joke,  he  started  in  to  wind  up  the  baronet's 
connection  with  Indian  life — merely  from  curiosity  as  to 
whether  it  was  possible  to  carry  out  such  a  deception. 
Hinted  at  finding  a  considerable  amount  of  buried  loot  in 
an  old  rock-temple,  up  country,  which  had  been  aban- 
doned for  centuries — but  didn't  make  it  definite  enough  to 
give  the  Government  any  valid  claim  upon  what  he'd 
found.  Then  he  and  Abdool  went  to  England — from 
Aden — on  his  big  yacht.  He'd  had  her  partly  rebuilt 
and  registered  under  another  name — the  Ranee  Sylvia — 
as  having  been  recently  purchased  by  him.  Called  upon 
the  Trevor  solicitors  in  London,  was  promptly  recognized 
as  'Sir  George,'  and  commissioned  them  to  buy  back  the 
Devonshire  estates.  When  this  had  been  done,  he  ran 
down  for  a  week  to  look  them  over  and  found  that  the 
family  who  had  occupied  the  place  for  ninety  years  had 
neither  made  any  alterations  in  the  old  manor-house, 
which  had  been  erected  around  a  Twelfth  Century  Nor- 
man tower,  nor  even  removed  the  old  Trevor  portraits 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES  25 

from  the  Elizabethan  'long  gallery.'  Some  of  his  neigh- 
bors met  him  riding  on  the  county  roads  and  addressed 
him  as  'Sir  George.'  The  thing  got  to  be  something  more 
than  a  joke;  he  decided  to  play  the  game  and  see  how  long  he 
could  get  away  with  it,  having  secret  service  work  in  mind." 

"But,  my  deah  suh,  he  couldn't  possibly  remembeh 
every  one  the  baronet  had  known — by  sight!" 

"I'm  coming  to  that.  Grisscome,  as  you  may  remem- 
ber, was  a  man  whom  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  catch 
napping — at  any  time.  His  mind  worked  like  an  elec- 
tric spark — and  he  had  intuition.  It  was  known  to  every 
one  in  Madras  that  Sir  George  had  been  in  poor  health 
for  a  year  or  more — his  memory  and  ability  to  carry  out 
his  duties  as  Commissioner  becoming  so  much  affected 
that  the  doctors  ordered  him  up  country  to  recuperate. 
When  Grisscome  happened  to  see  a  man's  or  a  woman's 
face  lighting  up  with  an  expression  of  recognition,  he  met 
them  half  way — spoke  of  the  partial  amnesia  which  his 
illness  had  left  and  begged  them  to  recall  themselves  to 
him,  which  they  naturally  did  with  considerable  detail. 

"He  drifted  about  the  London  clubs  for  a  few  months — 
then  got  restless.  Went  to  Downing  Street,  introduced 
himself  to  Sir  Edward  Wray  as  the  unknown  person  who 
had  sent  in  some  exceedingly  important  information  from 
Afghanistan,  and  suggested  attempting  a  most  audacious 
political  bluff  at  the  then-approaching  Kiel  manoeuvres 
of  the  German  Navy.  Wray  saw  the  point — admitted 
its  potential  value  to  England — but  said  Government 
couldn't  authorize  such  an  attempt  or  in  any  way  pro- 
tect the  man  who  made  it.  Grisscome,  however,  went 
ahead  and  pulled  it  off  successfully.  From  that  moment 


26  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

he  has  been  the  most  brilliant  secret-service  diplomat  in 
Europe,  scoring  coup  after  coup  for  England — invariably 
without  authorization  or  protection.  His  services  even- 
tually reached  a  point  where  the  Crown  simply  had  to  con- 
fer a  peerage  upon  him.  He  refused,  at  first,  telling 
Wray  who  he  really  was,  and  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  his  impersonating  Sir  George  Trevor  so  amazingly. 
Then  Wray  sprung  a  solar  plexus  one  on  him  by  explaining 
that  Garter  King-at-Arms  had  traced  out  the  Trevor 
connections  until  they  proved  Grisscome,  of  Boston,  a 
second  cousin  of  Sir  George,  and  his  only-surviving  heir 
to  the  title!" 

"Upon  my  hono',  suh!  That  is  the  most  amazing  cir- 
cumstance, if  true,  which  has  eveh  come  within  my  ex- 
perience! Go  on,  suh!" 

"Shortly  before  they  made  him  Viscount  Trevor  of 
Dartmoor,  a  girl  of  sixteen  turned  up  from  Madras — an 
only  child  of  Captain  Guy  Tremaine,  who  had  been  the 
most  capable  officer  of  the  Indian  Secret  Service  and  was 
killed  in  Cabul  by  Russian  agents.  She  had  been  a  com- 
panion of  her  father  in  his  confidential  work  and  had  a 
marvelous  education  of  a  most  unusual  sort.  Tremaine 
and  Trevor  had  been  very  chummy.  The  Captain's  will 
named  Trevor  as  Nan's  guardian  if  he  would  accept  the 
charge.  Although,  of  course,  he  had  never  seen  the 
girl  before,  she  thought  she  recognized  him  at  once;  they 
were  mutually  pleased  with  each  other.  As  time  passed, 
she  proved  to  have  so  much  knowledge  of  Oriental  intrigue 
and  was  such  a  phenomenal  linguist  that  they  simply 
couldn't  keep  her  out  of  the  game — in  which  her  capacity 
proved  almost  equal  to  that  of  her  guardian.  As  she 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     27 

into  womanhood,  they  quite  naturally  fell  in  love  with 
each  other;  but  he  was  more  than  twenty  years  older,  and 
thought  marriage  with  her  preposterous.  There  was  no 
avoiding  it,  however;  he  had  spoiled  her  for  any  lesser 
breed  of  man,  and  he  was  so  magnificently  preserved — 
kept  himself  so  remarkably  fit — that  he  passed  for  years 
younger  than  his  age.  Even  to-day,  he  is  one  of  the  most 
superb  horsemen,  fencers,  and  aviators  in  Europe.  So — 
they  were  married.  Took  a  honeymoon  on  their  yacht — 
and  pulled  off  a  most  amazing  coup  for  England  during 
the  voyage." 

"And  the  men  associated  with  them  in  their  Secret 
Service  wo'k?  One  infers  there  must  be  othehs — who 
assist  them." 

"I'm  coming  to  them.  Sir  Francis  Lammerford  was 
Dean  of  the  King's  Messengers  for  several  years,  and  was 
then  supposed  to  have  retired,  after  coming  into  money. 
He  was  frequently  in  India,  knew  Tremaine  very  well, 
though  he  hadn't  seen  Nan  since  she  was  seven  or  eight. 
Abdool  had  met  him  in  Cabul  two  or  three  times,  and  Sir 
George  Trevor,  as  Deputy  Commissioner,  had  been  also 
an  intimate  friend.  He  guessed  the  substitution  before 
Trevor  had  been  in  London  a  year,  and  was  so  captivated 
by  the  idea  that  he  got  to  be  thicker  with  the  new  Sir 
George  than  he  had  ever  been  with  the  original — recognized 
in  him  a  far  bigger,  more  forceful  man.  Naturally,  they 
were  soon  working  together  in  underground  diplomacy. 
Lammerford  simply  couldn't  keep  out  of  the  game  when 
he  saw  two  such  players  as  Trevor  and  Nan  Tremaine  at 
work.  Raymond  Carter,  of  the  American  Embassy  in 
Paris,  you  must  know  very  well,  Colonel.  He  had  met 


28  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Grisscome  in  Washington,  and  suspected  his  identity  from 
the  night  he  crossed  the  Channel  with  Trevor  in  a  biplane. 
Scarpia,  whom  the  Kolnische  Morgenblatt  referred  to  as 
'the  old  Italian  reprobate'  is  better  known  as  'the  old 
bald  eagle  of  Italian  diplomacy.'  He's  past  eighty-six — 
but  so  active  and  well  preserved  that  he  doesn't  look 
sixty-five.  Bald  as  a  billiard-ball — hooked  nose  and 
drooping  white  moustache — piercing,  deep-set  eyes — and 
knowledge  under  that  polished  brown  dome  of  his  that 
would  turn  Europe  inside  out  if  he  ever  took  the  notion 
to  blab  all  he  knows.  You  hear  very  little  of  him,  these 
days;  he  goes  regularly,  every  year,  to  an  oasis  in  the 
Sahara  to  recuperate.  Even  this  war  wouldn't  stop  him. 
But  he  gave  Trevor  material  assistance  in  influencing 
Italy  to  break  with  the  Triple  Alliance  when  she  did. 
Scarpia  is  a  world-famous  character;  there  is  no  mas- 
querading in  his  case,  and  the  mere  mention  of  his  name  in 
association  with  Trevor's  is  in  itself  a  verification  of 
Trevor's  being  much  more  substantial  than  merely  a 
name  in  fiction." 

"And — will  yo'  tell  me,  suh,  yo'  reasons  fo'  supposing 
Lady  Nan  Trevo'  and  our  charming  hostess  to  be 
identical?" 

"First  place — our  *  charming  hostess'  appears  to  be 
playing  the  big  game  at  this  very  moment!  You  were 
introduced  at  the  Carson  reception,  last  evening,  to  that 
Spanish  beauty,  Madame  la  Condesa  de  la  Montaneta. 
Did  you  happen  to  get  a  glimpse  of  her  profile?  " 

"Upon  my  wo'd — yes,  suh!  I  wondered  at  the  time 
who  she  reminded  me  of!  But — she's  a  much  taller 
woman,  eh?" 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES  29 

"Notice  the  heels  of  her  shoes,  when  she  was  sitting 
down?  'Louis'  heels — the  tallest  ones  I  ever  saw — three 
inches,  at  least!  Notice  our  hostess's  feet  this  evening? 
She  wore  what  are  sold  in  the  States  as  'misses'  shoes — 
with  low  rubber  heels.  She  has  beautiful  feet,  but  prides 
herself  upon  being  a  long-distance  walker  and  never  wears 
'Louis'  because  she  says  they  take  the  spring  out  of 
her  instep.  Now — allow  for  differences  in  arrangement  of 
the  hair,  costume,  manner,  accent,  complexion.  Discover 
some  dermatological  secret  for  swelling  the  flesh  over  the 
cheek-bones  a  little,  and  you'll  find  but  one  woman  play- 
ing the  two  parts.  I  rang  up  our  hostess,  last  evening, 
when  the  Condesa  was  at  the  Carson  reception,  and  was 
told  that  she  was  spending  the  day  in  Hants.  Just 
before  we  turned  up  for  dinner,  this  evening,  I  sent  up  my 
card  to  the  Condesa  at  the  Carlton,  and  was  told  that 
she  was  in  Essex.  When  one  is  in  evidence,  the  other  is 
not. 

"There's  a  German  plot  brewing,  Colonel — right  here  in 
London.  And  you  can  bet  your  last  cent  that  Lady  Nan 
Trevor  is  on  the  job!  Keep  your  eye  on  His  Lordship  for 
the  remainder  of  your  stay  over  here;  keep  tab  on  the 
gentlemen  we've  designated  as  Sir  Francis  Lammerford 
and  Sir  Abdool  (who  was  given  a  'G.C.S.I.'  at  the  Del- 
hi Durbar  for  his  services).  Before  you  go  home,  you 
may  pick  up  more  hints  concerning  the  underground 
diplomacy  of  Europe  than  you  obtained  at  the  State 
Department  in  all  your  thirty  years'  service!  This  is  the 
real  thing  over  here,  Colonel — they  fence  with  the  buttons 
off  the  foils.  A  slip  means  something  more  than  death 
for  the  fencer!  It  may  prove  a  national  catastrophe 


SO  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

within  a  few  hours!  Above  all,  keep  this  point  fixed  in 
your  mind.  Lord  Trevor  and  his  associates  are  myths — 
mere  characters  in  fiction.  If  you  happened  to  express 
any  other  belief,  it  might  cost  the  lives  of  men  and  women 
who  are  whining  this  war  for  civilization.  If  you  and  I 
outlive  them,  we  may  some  day  talk — to  our  grandchildren 
— and  write  vital  history  which  cannot  be  written  to-day." 

After  a  silence  of  several  minutes,  broken  only  by  muf- 
fled echoes  through  the  fog,  the  Colonel  said,  reflectively: 

"After  all,  suh,  yo'  mysterious  Free  Lances  are  really 
as  intangible  as  this  fog,  fo'  all  we  actually  know  to  the 
contrary.  Yo'  have  wo'ked  out  a  most  ingenious  and 
entirely  possible  theory  concerning  Grisscome's  activities 
fo'  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  yeahs — but  yo've  no  proof  that  a 
co't  would  accept.  Lo'd  Trevo's  house,  which  has  been 
described  in  fiction,  appeahs  to  closely  resemble  that  of 
ou'  host  of  this  evening — but  such  use  by  authors  of 
famous  mansions,  in  then:  fiction,  is  considered  entirely 
permissible,  and  is  frequently  practised.  My  recognizing 
Grisscome  was  evidence  of  a  so't;  yet  I  know  now  that  I 
couldn't  sweah  to  him.  No,  suh!  At  dinner,  this  evening, 
I  noticed  little  differences  in  manner — in  accent — of  which 
he  was  unconscious." 

"Colonel,  he  has  been  cultivating  that  manner  and 
accent  ever  since  he  took  up  Trevor's  personality  in  Lon- 
don— as  a  pose — giving  the  impression  that  he's  an  out- 
of-door  man  who  has  no  head  for  State  affairs  at  all.  As 
for  his  house — well;  the  first  excavation  made  for  it  was  a 
thirty-by-fifty  hole,  forty  feet  deep,  under  the  lawn  at  the 
south  side,  with  a  narrow  passage  leading  twenty  feet 
north.  This  was  roofed  over  with  brick  arches  at  a  depth 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES  31 

of  twenty-five  feet,  and  the  ground  filled  in  solid  above  it. 
The  next  excavation  was  a  deep  trench,  five  feet  wide, 
leading  from  a  position  under  what  afterward  became  that 
Jacobean  library  to  the  southeast  corner  of  the  grounds 
at  the  rear,  on  Park  Street — where  a  small  brick  dwelling 
now  stands.  At  the  bottom  of  this  trench  a  brick  tunnel 
was  constructed,  and  the  ground  filled  in  above  it.  After 
all  traces  of  these  excavations  had  been  obliterated,  the 
work  stopped  and  the  lot  was  boarded  up. 

"Three  months  later,  it  was  said  to  have  been  pur- 
chased from  a  speculator  by  the  Earl  of  S .  Then 

other  contractors  began  digging  for  the  cellars  under  the 
house  itself,  and  laying  the  main  foundation  walls.  In 
the  south  wall,  there  is  a  space  unaccounted  for  which 
provides  ample  room  for  a  secret  stairway,  from  both 
tunnel  and  secret  vault,  to  the  top  of  the  house,  and  I 
think  one  of  the  biggest  chimneys  is  a  ventilating  shaft. 
I'll  venture  to  say  you  might  search  that  house  a 
dozen  times — sounding  the  walls  and  floors — without 
discovering  how  one  gets  in  or  out  of  that  tunnel  and  vault. 
They  have  been  described — as  melodramatic  'properties' 
of  a  good  story;  but  who  believes  hi  their  actual  existence? 
People  don't  build  houses  that  way  in  this  Twentieth 
Century,  you  know;  it  simply  isn't  done.  The  mere  sug- 
gestion of  such  things  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in 
favor  of  fictional  unreality.  Seems  to  me  this  fog  is 
lifting  a  little!  I  think  we  can  find  our  way  around 
Buckingham  Palace  now,  and  down  back  of  the  Watney 
Brewery  to  the  Embassy." 

They  managed  to  cross  in  front  of  the  Palace  without 
mishap,  but  the  fog  shut  down  again  as  they  turned  into 


32  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Catharine  Street — one  of  the  narrow  byways  in  the  maze 
between  Buckingham  Gate  and  Victoria  Street.  Unless 
directly  over  them,  street  lamps  were  not  even  an  incan- 
descent blur  in  the  mist.  House-railings  ended  abruptly 
in  gateways — through  which  a  false  step  might  send  one 
down  in  a  nasty  fall.  The  curb  was  a  guide  only  as  far  as 
the  next  street — which  one  rarely  crossed  in  a  straight 
line.  In  the  mist-laden  atmosphere,  there  were  eddies 
along  which  echoes  of  voices  travelled  with  amazing  dis- 
tinctness, only  to  be  snuffed  out  in  the  middle  of  a  word. 
As  they  felt  their  way  along  in  silence,  foot  by  foot,  to- 
ward Palace  Street,  a  guttural  voice  which  seemed  less 
than  ten  feet  away  startled  them  to  an  abrupt  standstill. 

"Jal  The  arranchments  iss  almost  completed.  In  a 
few  weeks,  we  get  the  final  informations.  Undt  then  these 
verdamten  English  will  haf  der  taste  of  frightfulness  on  their 

OWL  groundt,  eh?     Psst!    Vas  ist?     Wehafpeenfol 

[There  was  a  quick  scuffling  of  feet  on  the  wet  pavement — 
a  faint  stirring  of  the  mist.} 

"Surrender — ye  bloody  'Un!  (Watch  out  for  'im  on 
t'other  side,  O'Rourke !  Head  'im  hoff ,  below — Muggins !) 
Ah! — Would  ye,  now,  ye  bloody  devil!"  [The  blaze  and 
whang  of  an  "automatic"  cut  loose  in  four  stuttering 
shots.]  "Then  'ave  a  taste  of  me  b'yonit,  damn  ye,  an' 
see  'ow  hit  feels!"  [A  death-scream  pierced  the  mist, 
ending  in  a  bubbling  groan.  There  was  a  sound  of  run- 
(ning  feet  which,  by  luck,  held  straight  up  the  narrow 
street.  Then — the  calm  crisp  voice  of  authority.] 

"  Who  is  it,  Sergeant?    That  spy  you've  been  trailing?  " 

"Aye,  Sir!  'E  kime  hout  of  yon  'ouse,  six  hours  gone — 
en'  a  fox  runs  back  to  'is  'ole,  if  ye  give  'im  time.  T'other 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FREE  LANCES     33 

bloke  got  aw'y,  but  we've  marked  'im  well.  Them  bloody 
'Uns  is  'atchin'  up  somethin',  Sir,  but  hl'm  thinkin'  we'll 
'ave  'em  in  clink  before  they  pulls  it  hoff!" 

There  was  a  shuffling  tramp,  as  of  many  feet  moving  in 
concert  with  a  heavy  burden.  For  ten  minutes,  the  two 
Americans  leaned  against  a  dripping  railing — waiting  for  a 
chance  to  resume  navigation  with  a  minimum  of  risk. 
The  spats  of  four  soft-nosed  bullets  had  scattered  brick- 
dust  within  a  few  feet  of  their  heads.  From  somewhere 
in  the  neighborhood,  a  big  clock  boomed  two.  Then  the 
crisp  New  York  and  soft  Virginian  voices  gradually  trailed 
away  until  they  were  lost  in  the  fog. 

"Most  stupendous  times  the  world  has  ever  seen! 

Unbelievable  things  happening  all 

about  you  when  you  least  expect  them " 

"Bewildering  to  one's  senses,  suh 

a  consciousness  of  struggling  unreality 

One  accepts,  as  mattehs  of  co'se,  the  most  impossible 
things — even  yo'  Diplomatic  Free  La " 


CHAPTER  H 

"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR" 

A  THREE  in  the  afternoon,  a  smart  landaulet  up- 
holstered in  Venetian-red  suede  rolled  noiselessly 
up  to  the  ladies'  entrance  of  the  Carlton  Hotel. 
From  his  glass-enclosed  sentry-box  the  doorman  tele- 
phoned the  reception  office  that  the  Condesa  de  la  Monte- 
neta's  car  was  at  the  door,  and  one  of  the  clerks  repeated  the 
information  over  the  wire  to  Madame's  suite  on  the  third 
floor,  where  her  two  Moorish  maids  were  assisting  her  into 
a  hat  and  wrap  just  over  from  Paris — the  envy  of  every 
woman  who  saw  them.  When  she  had  descended  in  the 
lift,  her  footman — who,  with  the  chauffeur,  had  also  the 
appearance  of  being  a  Moor — assisted  her  into  the  lan- 
daulet. 

As  the  Condesa's  goings  and  comings  were  of  interest  to 
every  one  in  the  hotel  on  account  of  her  undeniable  beauty, 
taste  in  clothes,  wealth,  and  social  prominence,  it  was  quite 
in  the  natural  order  of  things  for  the  page  and  chamber- 
maids in  charge  of  the  third  floor  to  be  standing  at  the 
end  of  the  corridor  watching  her  as  she  came  along  to  the 
lift.  It  was  also  a  matter  of  daily  occurrence  for  one  of 
the  maids  to  enter  the  room  presently  with  an  armful  of 
clean  towels  and — attaching  the  hose  to  a  baseboard-plug 
— groom  the  carpets  and  furniture  with  a  vacuum-cleaner 
during  Madame's  absence.  The  two  Moorish  girls  oc- 

84 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  35 

cupied  a  small  room  at  the  end  of  the  suite  and  were 
usually  more  or  less  in  evidence  when  any  of  the  hotel 
employees  came  in — not  that  they  appeared  suspicious, 
but  they  were  seldom  out  of  sight  long  enough  for  out- 
siders to  do  any  prying  whatever.  This  time,  however, 
the  chambermaid  heard  them  talking  in  one  of  the  farther 
rooms  as  if  they  hadn't  noticed  her  coming  in — and  she 
made  the  most  of  a  long-awaited  opportunity. 

Leaning  the  nozzle  of  her  cleaner  against  the  door- 
casing,  she  went  noiselessly  over  to  the  davenport  where 
the  Condesa's  correspondence  by  the  morning's  post  lay 
neatly  piled.  It  seemed  to  be,  however,  the  pigeonholes 
which  particularly  interested  the  girl.  With  practised 
rapidity,  she  ran  through  a  number  of  papers  and  letters 
— opened  the  secret  drawer  which  every  one  knows  how 
to  open  in  the  usual  desk  of  this  sort — and  then  began 
going  systematically  through  the  pile  of  correspondence. 
After  fifteen  minutes  or  so,  she  became  conscious  of  a 
pricking  sensation  through  the  left  side  of  her  corset. 
Turning,  with  a  chill  of  apprehension,  she  saw  a  pair  of 
gleaming  black  eyes  over  her  left  shoulder.  The  point  of 
a  slender  Moorish  knife,  with  a  razor-like  edge,  was  press- 
ing gently  yet  painfully  into  her  flesh — and  she  realized 
that  one  quick  shove  from  the  sinewy  arm  would  send  it 
through  her  heart. 

"Thou  hast  the  desire  to  read  what  is  written  to  the 
great  and  beautiful  one?  Aie!  Thou  shalt  tell  her  of  thy 
desire  when  she  returns.  Until  then  shalt  thou  sit  in 
that  corner  with  folded  arms — and  one  will  sit  by  thee 
with  this  knife  against  thy  side." 

Perforce,  the  girl  made  the  best  of  it.     To  her  amaze- 


36  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ment,  Madame  la  Condesa  paid  no  attention -to  the  tableau 
in  the  corner  when  she  finally  returned.  The  other  maid 
removed  her  hat  and  wrap,  followed  her  into  the  dressing- 
room,  where  she  took  off  Madame's  afternoon  costume, 
and  replaced  it  with  a  negligee.  Then  the  Condesa 
walked  leisurely  out  and  sat  down  before  the  davenport. 
She  spoke  beautiful  English,  with  here  and  there  a  pretty 
Spanish  accent. 

"Ah!  You  found  her  going  through  my  papers,  Aye- 
sha?  I  see!  I  wonder  what  you  discovered  of  interest 
among  them,  Meess?  Let  me  see.  You  are  the  maid  on 
thees  floor,  I  believe?  An'  your  name  is  Betty — the  short 
for  Elizabeth,  of  course — or — should  I  say  Bettina — eh?" 

To  her  utter  amazement,  the  girl  noticed  a  peculiar 
position  of  Madame's  hand  as  she  lightly  touched  a  wisp 
of  hair  just  above  her  ear.  Half  incredulously,  the  cham- 
bermaid closed  her  eyes  for  a  second  and  let  her  teeth 
rest  upon  her  lower  lip.  It  was  a  natural  facial  expression 
of  weariness  or  pain,  and  would  have  attracted  no  atten- 
tion from  anyone  not  particularly  observant — but  it  was 
promptly  answered  by  another  imperceptible  signal  from 
Madame,  who  began  to  smile  at  the  maid's  confusion  and 
amazement. 

"If  you  could  have  assisted  me,  I  should  have  made  use 
of  you  before  this,  Betty.  The  Herr  Chudleigh  Sammis, 
who  is  Member  of  Parliament,  told  me  there  were  two  of 
you,  and  a  man,  in  this  hotel — but  it  is  dangerous  that 
more  than  a  few  of  us  should  know  one  another.  There 
are  too  many  of  the  Downing  Street  people  to  watch  each 
one  and  note  with  whom  they  appear  to  have  a  secret  under- 
standing. As  to  my  papers  here,  I  am  quite  sure  you 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  d7 

found  nothing  to  interest  you.  We  of  Wilhelmstrasse  are 
not  careless — as  you  know.  But  you  will  forget  every- 
thing you  have  seen  in  this  room — everything  which  con- 
cerns me  in  any  way!  You  recognize  this  ring,  do  you 
not?"  [She  held  out  her  left  hand,  upon  one  finger  of 
which  was  a  beautiful  table-cut  emerald  which  the  maid 
knew  at  a  glance  was  worn  only  by  those  high  in  authority 
among  the  Wilhelmstrasse  secret  agents.]  "Very  good! 
You  will  make  no  mistake  in  regard  to  me !  If  I  find  myself 
in  danger  and  can  make  use  of  you,  I  will  give  the  emergency 
signal.  If  I  need  your  assistance  with  a  secret  communi- 
cation, I  will  ring  the  bell  of  my  suite  three  times — so! 
Meanwhile,  you  will  hint  to  your  two  companions  in  the 
hotel  that  I  am  not  to  be  interfered  with  or  spied  upon  in 
any  way.  A  hint  should  be  enough — without  giving  them 
further  information  concerning  me.  If  they  do  not  take 
that  hint,  they  are  likely  to  hear  from  Berlin — unpleas- 
antly. Now — you  may  go." 

The  girl  knew  that  several  women  of  the  nobility  were 
among  the  higher,  inner  circle  of  the  German  Secret  Serv- 
ice, and  had  no  doubts  whatever  that  the  Condesa  was  one 
of  them.  Dropping  upon  one  knee,  she  kissed  the  hand 
extended  to  her — murmuring  profuse  apologies  for  her 
mistake,  and  then  hurriedly  left  the  suite. 

A  few  moments  later,  Madame  was  about  to  dress  for 
dinner  when  there  was  a  knock  at  the  outer  door  of  the 
suite,  and  Ayesha  admitted  Lady  Blanche  Parker,  who — • 
with  Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Parker,  K.C.B. — was  occupying 
a  suite  upon  the  same  floor  of  the  hotel  while  her  town 
house  was  being  redecorated.  She  had  been  among  the 
first  to  whom  the  Condesa  had  taken  a  personal  fancy  after 


38  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

her  arrival  in  London,  and  a  somewhat  intimate  friendship 
had  sprung  up  between  them.  Just  now  she  appeared 
nervous — ill  at  ease. 

"You  were  about  to  dress  for  dinner,  Condesa?  Don't 
let  me  delay  you!  May  I  come  in  and  chat  while  you 
change?" 

"I've  really  nothing  on  hand  for  the  evening  before 
eleven,  my  dear — and  one  should  not  talk  confidentially 
before  one's  maids,  don't  you  know.  (You  see?  I  have 
adopt'  the  English  idiom.  Si!)  Let  us  remain  here 
where  there  is  nobody  to  overhear.  I  theenk  you  are 
not  quite  yourself .  No.  Tell  me!" 

"  Oh — it's  quite  stupid  of  me  to  care !  Men  do  such  things 
— I  suppose  they  don't  really  mean  anything  by  it,  half 
the  time!  Before  this  horrible  war  started,  I  thought  I 
was  the  happiest  woman  in  England!  I  loved  my  hus- 
band so  much  that  I  was  foolish  over  him — I  really  did! 
And  I  hadn't  the  least  doubt  in  the  world  that  he  returned 
it.  We'd  lived  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  in 
Hants,  ever  since  we  were  born — I  used  to  be  crazy 
over  the  way  he  sat  a  horse  when  he  rode  to  hounds — 
practised,  day  after  day,  so  I  could  keep  up  with  him  and 
take  the  same  jumps  that  he  did.  Then  we  settled  down 
in  Feathercote  together,  living  a  perfectly  ideal  life. 
Finally  the  war  came — and  I'd  the  awful  dread  that  Tom 
would  be  among  the  first  killed.  I  knew,  of  course,  that 
his  regiment  would  be  sent  at  once,  because  they  were 
veteran  troops.  He  was  slightly  wounded  near  Lille 
and  sent  home.  After  he  recovered,  his  capacity  for 
organization  got  him  a  billet  at  one  of  the  training  camps; 
then  he  was  transferred  to  Aldershot  because  it  was  his 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  39 

home  neighborhood  and  he  knew  practically  everybody 
within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles.  He's  been  most  successful 
in  the  recruiting,  you  know.  Well,  of  course  his  duties 
gave  him  little  tune  for  me — but  his  business  with  the 
War  Office  made  it  advisable  to  spend  at  least  half  his 
nights  in  town,  and  I  thought  I  should  see  a  lot  more  of 
him,  up  here." 

"  And — don't  you?  I  see  you  with  el  Senor  Coronel  in  the 
beeg  dining  room  almos'  every  evening." 

"Yes — but  his  manner  has  been  very  much  changed 
during  the  last  few  weeks.  He  is  more  preoccupied — gives 
me  less  of  the  old  perfect  companionship.  To-day  I  found 
out  why  !  I  came  into  our  suite  rather  quietly,  and  walked 
through  to  the  room  where  he  does  his  writing.  He  was 
sitting  at  his  desk,  as  I  expected.  But — one  of  the  hotel 
maids  was  standing  by  his  side,  leaning  on  his  shoulder. 
His  arm  was  around  her,  and  he  was — well — hugging  her! 
She — she  seemed  to  be  enjoying  it — the  hussy!" 

"Oh — as  you  say,  my  dear,  men  do  those  things  without 
theenking  twice  about  them.  They  consider  it 
mere  passing  amusement.  You  may  be  sure  you  'ave 
nothing  serious  to  fear  from  a  hotel  servant — it 
would  be  quite  too  ridiculous!  In  the  lifetime  of  my  'us- 
band,  El  Conde  de  la  Montaneta,  he  had  that  weakness — • 
like  other  men.  But  I  was  la  Dona  Condesa — I  never 
did  notice  such  little  occurrences  when  he  was  indiscreet. 
There  was  one — a  mantilla-maker  of  Seville — who  dance' 
mos'  divinely.  El  Conde  would  take  her  for  a  ride  in  the 
country  in  hees  grand  motor-car — the  poor  theeng  needed 
fresh  air.  But  I  could  discover  no  difference  in  hees 
respec'  an'  affection  for  me — no — nevaire.  Which  of 


40  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

the  maids  did  el  Sefior  Coronel  honor  with  hees  em- 
brace?" 

"The — the — well,  I  suppose  some  people  might  call  her 
quite  good-looking,  in  a  bold,  provocative  way!  It  was 
that — that  Betty  woman!" 

"So?  El  Coronel  showed  mos'  perfec'  taste  when  he 
married  you,  my  dear — an'  he  compliments  you  by  select- 
ing a  different  but  mos'  handsome  type  for  hees  passing 
amour.  The  little  Betty,  she  ees  really  beautiful,  I  theenk 
if  one  dressed  her  au  grande  dame.  She  ees  plump — full 
of  fire.  What  man  with  blood  in  hees  veins  could  help 
the  little  embrace — perhaps  a  kiss  or  two — from  a  ripe 
little  baggage  like  that,  if  there  was  opportunity  and  she 
was  not  unwilling !  Eh,  my  dear?  Pouf!  Eet  is  nothing. 
A  moment's  relaxation — to  lighten  the  anxieties  of  hees 
professional  work.  Come!  I  will  propose  you  a  diver- 
sion. You  trust  me,  do  you  not?  You  do  not  theenk  I 
would  deliberately  rob  you  of  your  'usband's  love?" 

"You — rob  me — Condesa?    I — I  don't  understand!" 

"I  will  be  more  plain.  I  weesh  to  show  the  young 
wife  that  passing  flirtation  ees  merely  a  game  weeth  mos' 
men — that  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  love  they  have 
for  their  wives.  It  ees  merely  the  excitement  of  the  chase 
— the  capture — the  collecting  tribute.  Look  you,  my 
dear!  You  shall  throw  me  in  the  society  of  el  Seftor 
Coronel — arrange  that  we  shall  be  t§te-a-tete,  with  no 
one  to  observe  an'  listen.  Me — I  am  handsome  woman, 
no?  I  shall  make  your  'usband  to  flirt  weeth  me — and 
forget  the  little  Betty  entirely.  When  I  get  him  ver'  much 
work'  up,  I  shall  make  him  to  laugh  with  me  at  the  game 
we  both  play.  I  shall  keess  him  good-bye  and  say  the 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  41 

joke  mus'  not  go  further  any  more  because  you  are  my  dear 
friend  and  would  be  annoy'  if  you  should  discover  us  when 
we  were  careless.  Then  will  he  be  punish'  for  the  little 
Betty,  with  her  neat  ankles  an'  pretty  figure.  He  will 
remember  that  yours  are  much  prettier — and — and  belong 
to  him.  You  see?" 

"Yes — I  see.  But — suppose  you  should  fall  in  love 
with  Tom  yourself?  I — I'd  be  afraid  of  you,  Condesa!" 

"I  would  make  el  Coronel  Tom  theenk  I  loved  him,  my 
dear — an'  you  also  would  theenk  so  until  we  'ave  the  final 
laugh.  But,  for  me,  there  is  one  man  in  all  the  world. 
He  is  married  man.  I  shall  never  have  him — even  if  hees 
wife  die,  he  might  never  marry  me.  But  once,  he  save* 
my  life  an'  nearly  lost  hees  own.  From  then,  I  am  loving 
him  more  than  everything  in  the  world !  With  other  men, 
I  flirt  to  pass  the  time.  Si!  Why  not?  But  none  of 
them  shall  have  me — except  that  one.  When  Andalusians 
really  love,  eet  ees  forever!" 

Lady  Parker's  eyes  were  star-like  with  admiration. 
"Oh!  That  is  something  perfectly  ideal,  Condesa!  I — I 
could  love  Tom  like  that  if — if  I  thought  he  cared  for  me 
the  same  way!  I  suppose  I  mustn't  try  to  guess  who  it 
is?" 

"  It  ees  better  not,  my  dear.  If  you  desire,  I  shall  flirt 
weeth  your  'usband,  an'  distrac'  hees  mind.  But  I 
will  not  love  heem — I  promise  you  that.  You  shall  stan' 
behind  the  scenes  an'  see  the  game.  When  you  tire  of  it, 
I  will  stop  playing." 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  clerk  in  the  hotel 
office — very  well  liked  by  the  guests,  on  account  of  his 
pleasant  manner  and  ability  for  straightening  out  their 


42  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

various  grievances — went  quietly  from  his  room  in  the 
employees'  quarters  up  to  the  roof  over  the  Haymarket 
side.  As  one  of  those  who  conducted  the  business  of  the 
hotel,  his  presence  in  any  part  of  it,  at  any  hour,  would 
have  been  accepted  as  being  in  the  line  of  his  duties.  So 
also,  to  a  lesser  extent,  the  third-floor  chambermaid, 
Betty — who  appeared  upon  the  roof  a  few  moments  later, 
gazing  into  the  murky  atmosphere  overhead  in  a  terrified 
search  for  bomb-dropping  zeppelins. 

The  few  detached  areas  of  flat  roof,  above  the  curved  and 
sloping  mansards,  had  been  protected  in  a  way  that  made 
demolition  of  the  building  unlikely.  Their  surface  had 
been  covered  to  a  depth  of  three  feet  with  bags  of  sand — 
and  above  the  mansards  which  sloped  toward  the  inner 
courts  had  been  stretched  a  canopy  of  steel  wire  netting. 
After  the  one  rather  disastrous  raid  of  German  dirigibles, 
two  watchmen  had  been  stationed  on  the  roofs,  each  night, 
to  warn  guests  upon  the  upper  floors  in  case  of  another — 
but  their  services  had  been  discontinued  after  a  while 
because  of  their  doubtful  utility  in  such  an  emergency. 
So  that — excepting  some  of  the  help  whose  fears  or  cur- 
iosity impelled  them  to  go  up  at  night  for  a  look  around — 
the  roofs  were  deserted. 

As  Betty  stepped  cautiously  over  the  sand  bags  toward 
one  of  the  farther  chimneys,  she  stopped  to  gaze  upward 
as  if  looking  for  a  dirigible.  Her  actions  were  so  entirely 
natural  that,  had  anyone  been  watching  her,  it  is  doubtful 
if  he  would  have  been  suspicious.  Eventually,  she  step- 
ped around  behind  a  massive  chimney — where  Mr.  James 
Crofton,  the  office  clerk,  was  imperturbably  smoking  an 
excellent  cigar. 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  43 

As  he  noticed  the  direction  from  which  she  had  ap- 
proached, he  started,  apprehensively. 

"Gott!  Bettina!  You  came  over  the  middle  of  those 
bags — yess?" 

"Why,  of  course  I  did!  Suppose  anyone  had  been 
watching?  It  would  never  do  to  give  an  impression  of 
skulking  about,  up  here!" 

"So?  Better  that  risk  than  get  blown  to  the  devil  be- 
fore you  have  accomplished  your  work!  Look  you, 
Bettina!  At  every  yard  distance,  all  over  this  roof,  is  a 
bag  of  sand  in  which  there  are  one  or  more  sticks  of  dyna- 
mite. Your  weight  upon  the  loosely  packed  sand  is 
sufficient  to  explode  a  stick,  if  it  happened  to  come  just 
right!  If  one  explodes,  they '11  all  go  off !  When  just  one 
little  bomb  from  a  zeppelin  happens  to  drop  on  this  roof, 
it  must  surely  set  off  all  the  dynamite!  There's  enough 
of  it  up  here  to  destroy  every  building  within  a  hundred 
yards !  I've  planted  those  sticks,  one  at  a  time,  and  if  we 
hear  an  explosion  hi  another  part  of  the  city,  we  must^get 
out  of  this  hotel  as  quickly  as  we  can  dress!" 

"Ach,  Gott!  Johann — this  is  terrible!  It  is  not  as  if 
we  were  killing  the  English  soldiers!  If  your  dynamite 
goes  off,  it  will  kill  all  these  pretty  little  children  in  the 
hotel — the  young  girls,  just  coming  to  their  marrying 
time.  They  have  done  Germany  no  harm!" 

"Woman — such  talk  is  foolishness!  Those  kinder  will 
grow  up  to  be  Englander  men  and  women — mothers  of 
Englander  soldiers!  They  must  be  taught  to  fear  Ger- 
many! That  fear  must  be  foremost  in  the  mothers' 
minds — so  the  children  will  be  marked  with  it !  They  must 
know  it  iss  not  safe  to  defy  the  kaiser  as  they  haf  done! " 


44  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"But,  look  you,  Johann — these  English  only  swear  to 
fight  us  the  more  when  we  do  such  things!  There  has 
been  no  trouble  in  recruiting  since  the  zeppelins  came! 
I  have  been  here  much  longer  than  you,  and  our  campaigns 
of  '  f  rightf  ulness '  have  had  just  the  opposite  effect  from 
what  we  expected!" 

"Ach!  You  are  a  woman!  You  cannot  under- 
stand these  things  like  the  officers  of  our  General  Staff! 
But  enough!  Tell  me  what  you  haf  discovered  among  the 
papers  of  the  Condesa." 

"Suppose  you  tell  me,  Johann,  why  you  thought  there 
might  be  anything  of  interest  to  us  among  them?  " 

"  I  am  told  by  Karl  Berndorf  that  the  Condesa's  family 
were  practically  unknown  before  she  married  the  Conde 
de  la  Montaneta,  six  years  ago — which  is  suspicious. 
Spanish  grandees  do  not  marry  that  sort  of  women,  except 
morganatically.  She  hass,  with  her,  four  servants  who  are 
supposed  to  be  Moors.  They  talk  with  each  other  in 
Arabic — very  true — but  in  much  too  pure  Arabic  for  the 
Moors  of  Tangier  or  Cadiz,  where  Madame  came  from. 
Since  her  arrival  in  London  she  hass  become  quite  inti- 
mate with  some  of  the  most  brominent  men  and  women  in 
the  country — she  could  scarcely  haf  brought  letters  that 
would  haf  secured  such  an  entree  for  her  in  a  space  of 
seven  or  eight  weeks.  She  spends  money  as  if  her  wealth 
were  almost  unlimited — yet  Berndorf  was  quite  possitive 
that  the  old  Conde's  estates  in  Andalusia  had  become  very 
much  curtailed  before  his  death.  I  don't  know,  exactly, 
what  to  make  of  her,  myself.  Her  Castilian  iss  so  perfect 
that  she  must  be  Spanish,  and  yet — 

"She  is  probably  of  the  Austrian  Court  circle,  my  friend 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  45 

— with  a  family  dating  back  to  Charles  Fifth,  or  earlier, 
which  accounts  for  her  Spanish  blood  and  home.  And 
she  is  of  Wilhelmstrasse,  like  ourselves — only  far  higher 
in  authority.  By  the  ring  she  wears,  I  think  she  must  be 
one  of  the  Imperial  Special  Agents.  One  of  her  Moorish 
maids  caught  me  going  through  the  papers  in  her  desk,  and 
held  a  knife  against  my  ribs  for  three  long  hours — until 
Madame  returned.  I  thought  I  must  be  drugged  or 
dreaming  when  she  casually  gave  me  the  first  recognition 
sign — it  made  me  feel  like  a  fool !  Getting  caught  at  her 
papers  like  a  clumsy  sneak-thief,  when  some  of  those 
Cabinet  men  are  probably  dropping  Government  secrets 
to  her  which  neither  you  nor  I  could  get  if  our  lives  de- 
pended upon  it !  Oh,  they  wouldn't  know  they  were  telling 
her  anything  dangerous  for  England!  Trust  her  for  that! 
But  the  woman  is  a  hypnotist  and  a  mind-reader.  She 
said  that  the  Herr  Chudleigh  Sammis  had  told  her  there 
were  three  of  us  in  this  hotel — and  I'm  beginning  to  think 
she  must  have  been  working  with  him  in  influencing  the 
Cabinet  Ministers." 

"Himmel!  And  I  never  even  dreamed!  It  explains 
those  Moorish  servants,  too!  They  must  be  high-caste 
Hindu  revolutionists — the  sort  who  will  stop  at  nothing 
so  long  as  they  smash  the  English  Raj!  Valuable  tools,  if 
one  knows  how  to  handle  them!  Look  you,  Bettina! 
The  Condesa  hass  become  most  intimate  with  Lady  Par- 
ker— the  Herr  Colonel  iss  fascinated  with  her;  I  saw  him 
looking  at  her  as  she  talked  with  her  ladyship  in  the  foyer, 
last  night.  Why  wouldn't  she  haf  a  better  chance  than 
you  to  obtain  the  plans  from  him?" 

"She  might — if  he  were  anywhere  near  her  own  rank. 


46  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

But — women  of  her  position  do  not  go  as  far  as  those  in 
our  station  of  life — to  obtain  what  Wilhelmstrasse  requires. 
They  will  risk  and  sacrifice  life — yes,  if  necessary.  But 
giving  themselves  is  something  they  are  not  likely  to  do. 
I'll  admit  that  they're  often  successful,  without." 

"Er — you  would  pay  the  price,  if  necessary — Bettina?" 
"That's  something  you'll  never  know — it's  none  of  your 
business !  I  think  I  can  make  the  Colonel  tell  me  anything 
I  want  to  know — when  the  conditions  are  just  right.  But 
if  I  can't,  I'll  ask  Madame's  assistance;  you  need  have  no 
doubts  upon  that  score!  Katrina  heard  Her  Ladyship 
accepting  an  invitation  for  charity  bridge  to-morrow  after- 
noon— when  the  Colonel  is  likely  to  be  at  Aldershot — and 
he  asked  me  if  I  would  come  to  their  suite  about  three, 
with  the  vacuum-cleaner.  He's  quite  sure  to  J>e  there." 

On  the  following  day  Lady  Parker  motored  away  from 
the  hotel  at  half -past  two — Sir  Thomas  being  presumably 
at  Aldershot.  It  occurred  to  her  that  he  might  run  up  to 
the  city  earlier  than  usual  and  amuse  himself  with  the 
pretty  chambermaid  if  she  happened  to  be  on  duty  at  that 
hour — but  the  Condesa  had  talked  to  such  good  purpose 
that  she  believed  it  merely  a  passing  foolishness  upon  her 
husband's  part  which  she  would  better  ignore,  and  she  was 
dwelling  with  mischievous  anticipation  upon  his  punish- 
ment for  it  when  the  Condesa  herself  should  take  a  hand. 
So  she  was  in  no  hurry  to  return  before  it  was  time  to 
dress  for  dinner. 

At  a  few  moments  after  three,  Betty — in  her  dainty 
apron  and  short  black  skirt — came  to  Sir  Thomas's  door 
with  the  reel  of  vacuum-hose  and  long  nozzle,  letting  her- 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  47 

self  in  with  a  pass-key  but  taking  care  to  bolt  the  door  on 
the  inside.  As  on  a  previous  occasion,  the  Colonel  was  at 
his  desk  in  the  sitting  room.  While  pointing  out  what  he 
wished  done,  he  managed  to  get  a  half-reluctant  kiss  or 
two  that  made  him  hungry  for  more.  Presently,  he  told 
her  to  let  the  cleaning  go  for  a  while — and  drew  her  down 
upon  the  sofa  by  his  side. 

"Betty,  you  use  a  dev'lish  sight  better  language  than  any 
hotel  chambermaid  I  ever  saw!  I'd  be  quite  interested, 
don't  you  know,  if  you'd  tell  me  all  about  yourself  an* 
how  you  happen  to  be  in  such  a  position  as  this.  Might 
be  able  to  help  you  on  a  bit,  d'ye  see — one  never  can  say. 
I  fancy  your  family  are  a  cut  above  the  ord'n'ry  lot — 
what?" 

"Oh,  my  people  were  really  very  decent,  sir.  My 
father  was  a  younger  son  of  Major  Bundy,  who  served  in 
the  Crimea — one  of  the  Dorset  Bundys,  you  know.  There 
wasn't  money  enough  to  purchase  a  commission  for  him 
after  his  eldest  brother  went  into  the  Guards,  so  he  took 
orders  and  was  appointed  curate  of  a  small  parish  on  the 
Shaftesbury  estates.  He  was  made  rector  when  we  girls 
were  in  our  'teens,  but  died  a  year  afterward — and  of 
course,  left  us  practically  nothing.  The  living  was  a  small 
one.  My  mother  died  several  years  before,  and  my  sister 
married  a  small  tradesman  in  Southampton.  So  there 
was  nothing  left  for  me  to  do  but  go  out  in  service.  We'd 
been  decently  educated,  of  course — I  could  have  obtained 
a  position  as  governess,  but  the  wages  are  not  so  high  as  I 
get  here,  and  I  have  a  few  hours  to  myself,  every  day. 
These  grand  hotels  require  maids  who  have  some  edu- 
cation— enough  taste  to  assist  the  guests  with  their  clothes, 


48  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

if  necessary — and  present  an  attractive  appearance. 
When  my  father  was  living,  my  social  position  was  good 
enough  to  permit  of  my  calling  upon  any  family  in  the 
county — while  now,  I'm  a  servant,  and  must  know  my 
place.  But  I'm  much  more  independent,  here,  and  am 
putting  by  a  good  bit  of  money  each  month.  In  a  few 
years  I  shall  go  to  America  and  open  a  little  millinery  shop. 
Over  there  I'm  as  good  as  anybody." 

"Faith,  and  so  you  are  in  London — if  people  only 
knew  it!  I  suppose  you  make  a  bit  in  tips,  as  well?" 

"Perhaps  more  than  you'd  think,  Sir  Thomas.  To  a 
girl  who  has  scrimped  and  denied  herself  even  necessities 
while  trying  to  be  a  lady  on  nothing  a  year,  it's  quite  too 
ridiculous  to  have  a  fat  dowager  give  one  half  a  sovereign 
merely  for  selecting  her  most  becoming  gown,  and  turning 
her  out  at  her  very  best  for  some  dinner  party!  And  the 
men !  Why,  I've  had  an  old  duke  give  me  three  sovereigns 
for  promising  to  forget  all  about  it  after  I'd  slapped  his 
face  for  trying  to  kiss  me ! " 

"Eh?  What's  that?  Do  you  mean  to  say  it's  an 
ord'n'ry  occurrence  for  men  to — er — take  advantage  of 
your  position — and — er — kiss  you?  My  word!" 

"No.  There's  a  difference — between  kissing  one  and 
— well — trying  to  do  it." 

"But  what — eh?  Dash  it  all,  you  know — I've — eh? 
And  I  believe  I've  never  tipped  you  a  penny — as  yet! 
Leave  all  that  sort  of  thing  to  Her  Ladyship,  don't  you 
know!  Of  course,  if  I'd  known  about  your  family — in- 
excusable liberty,  you  know!  Quite  welcome  to  slap  me 
if  you  wish !  And — er 

"I  trust,  Sir  Thomas,  that  you've  too  much  taste  and 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  49 

good  sense  to  offer  me  money,  now  that  you  know  some- 
thing of  my  private  affairs.  I  permitted  you  to  do  what 
you  did  because  you  have  always  treated  me  kindly — 
never  taken  a  low  advantage  of  me.  There's  no  great 
harm  in  your  kissing  me,  I  fancy — but  if  you  were  seen 
doing  it,  I  should  probably  lose  my  position  here.  I  should 
have  to  complain  of  you  to  the  management.  Rather 
than  have  any  trouble  with  a  wealthy  guest,  they'd  give 
me  the  sack." 

"Faith,  you  need  have  no  fears  upon  that  score!  If 
they  discharged  you,  I'd  find  something  better  at  once — 
or  see  that  you  had  a  good  start  in  some  other  place.  I 
say,  Betty — er — do  you  know,  I — I  think  an  awful  lot 
of  you!  Ton  honor,  I  do!  I  say!  Would  it  be  possible 
for  me  to  see  you  outside,  anywhere?  When  do  you — er — 
get  out  of  the  hotel?  Where  do  you  go?" 

"I  have  three  evenings  off  each  week.  Sometimes  I 
go  to  a  cinema  show  with  two  of  the  other  maids.  Occas- 
ionally, Mr.  Crofton  takes  me  out  to  a  burlesque — or  to 
one  of  the  Strand  restaurants  for  dinner.  Or  we  go  to  a 
dance  hall,  where  he  teaches  me  the  latest  steps." 

"Crofton?  You  mean  the  dark  in  the  hotel  office? 
Decent  young  fellow,  that!  You're  not  engaged  to  him 
—what?" 

"No  fear!     Why  did  you  wish  to  know  that?" 

"Well — d'ye  see — after  all,  y'know,  Crof ton's  merely  a 
middle-class  chap — not  your  sort,  really.  And — er — I'd 
jolly  well  like  to  have  you  go  about  with  me — if  we  can 
manage  it.  And — er " 

"You  couldn't  take  me  to  a  theatre,  Sir  Thomas,  or  any 
public  place  where  Her  Ladyship  might  see  us.  Of  course, 


50  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

when  I  am  dressed  for  the  street  or  for  an  evening  out,  I 
fancy  no  one  in  the  hotel  would  recognize  me.  But  still, 
Her  Ladyship  must  be  very  well  known  in  London  so- 
ciety." 

"Er — quite  so,  my  dear.  But  I've  cousins  and  other 
women  relatives,  d'ye  see,  whom  I  freq'ntly  show  the  sights 
when  they're  up  for  a  day  or  so.  If  Her  Ladyship  happens 
to  run  across  us — most  unlikely,  don't  you  know — I  can 
introduce  you  as  one  of  'm — or — er — one  of  a  brother 
officer's  family,  d'ye  see? — up  from  Aldershot  for  the  even- 
in.'  Eh?  Meet  me  to-morrow  evenin'  in  the  lounge  at 
the  Cecil — an*  we'll  go  somewhere  for  dinner — make  a 
night  of  it.  Eh?  You  will?  That's  jolly!  Now— eh? 
Just  one  more  kiss  to  seal  the  bargain?" 

For  a  second  or  two  her  lips  clung  to  his  with  a  warmth 
that  made  him  dizzy;  then  she  was  gone.  He  sat  down 
at  his  desk  and  foolishly  tried  to  fix  his  attention  upon  the 
papers  he  had  been  examining. 

Two  weeks  later  she  accompanied  him  to  his  town  house 
in  order  that  he  might  show  her  some  books  and  pictures 
which  he  had  recently  purchased.  The  decorators  had 
finished  their  work.  His  butler  had  been  up  from  Hamp- 
shire, superintending  the  cleaning  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
had  finally  returned — leaving  the  house  ready  for  occu- 
pancy at  any  time  he  should  be  ordered  to  bring  up  the 
requisite  staff  of  servants.  A  watchman  inspected  the 
premises,  outside,  at  intervals — but  the  Colonel  had  told 
him  that  he  should  be  working  late,  that  night,  with  his 
private  secretary.  They  had  the  house  to  themselves. 

She  had  met  him,  that  evening,  in  a  chiffon  gown  of 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  51 

dark  green  which  amazed  him  by  its  perfect  taste  and  the 
way  it  set  off  her  blonde  prettiness.  How  she  had  man- 
aged to  dress  in  such  a  garment  in  the  servants'  quarters 
of  a  hotel  he  couldn't  understand.  [She  had  really  gone, 
with  her  maid's  uniform  covered  by  a  mackintosh,  to  the 
house  of  a  very  respectable  widow  in  Soho — a  place  which 
had  been  a  secret  rendezvous  of  German  spies  since  the 
third  month  of  the  war — and  changed  there.]  They  had 
dined  at  a  quiet  but  famous  restaurant  just  off  Pall  Mall, 
and  the  Colonel  had  taken  rather  more  than  his  usual 
allowance  of  champagne.  When  he  produced  two  cob- 
webby bottles  of  Burgundy  from  his  own  cellar  she  made 
no  remonstrance — but,  had  he  noticed  it,  there  was  a 
calculating  look  in  her  eyes.  She  had  learned,  before  this, 
about  how  much  stimulation  was  needed  to  loosen  his 
tongue — but  the  exact  point  at  which  mind  and  memory 
became  oblivious  to  what  he  did  was  still  a  little  uncertain. 
How  far  to  let  him  go  in  his  drinking — where  to  stop  him 
before  he  became  drowsily  speechless — was  a  matter  of 
nice  calculation. 

Early  that  afternoon  the  Condesa  had  motored  to  the 
Trevor  mansion  in  Park  Lane.  Had  any  of  her  acquain- 
tances been  in  the  drawing  room  when  she  was 
admitted — presumably  to  call  upon  Lady  Trevor — they 
would  have  been  much  astonished  by  the  liberties  she 
took.  Running  upstairs  to  Her  Ladyship's  boudoir,  she 
closed  the  door  and  called  up  the  Foreign  Office,  asking 
the  operator  to  "put  her  on"  to  the  private  office  of  Sir 
Edward  Wray,  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
In  a  moment  his  voice  Came  over  the  wire,  saying  that 
he  would  motor  out  to  Park  Lane  at  once.  She  received 


52  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

him  in  the  big  library  on  the  ground  floor  fifteen  minutes 
later. 

"What  mare's  nest  have  you  been  stirring  up,  Nan?" 

"You've  been  looking  up  Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Parker, 
as  I  asked?" 

"Aye — but  there's  nothing  fishy  that  we  can  discover — 
except  his  weakness  for  women.  An'  that's  hereditary, 
you  know." 

"I  had  supposed  it  must  be"  (dryly).  "Tell  me  all 
you  know  about  the  man,  Ned.  I've  heard  of  his  court- 
ship and  marriage — in  fact,  pretty  much  everything  Lady 
Blanche  could  give  me." 

"Well — let  me  see.  He  was  a  son  of  General  Sir 
Harrington  Parker,  who  was  on  the  staff  of  Engineers  in 
the  'sixties'  and  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  permanent 
improvements  at  Aldershot  in  1890.  It's  within  ten 
miles  of  Feathercote — the  Parker  estate  in  Hampshire — 
you  know.  Sir  Thomas  was  a  lad  of  eighteen  at  the  time 
the  reconstruction  was  started — and,  during  his  vacations, 
he  rode  all  over  the  place  with  his  father.  Had  a  taste 
for  engineering  even  then — and  was  permitted  to  super- 
intend bits  of  the  minor  construction  work  occasionally. 
I  fancy  he  must  have  preserved  every  plan  his  father  drew 
— because  the  War  Office  is  finding  his  knowledge  of 
Aldershot  and  other  military  camps  valuable  even  now, 
and  he  frequently  runs  over  to  Feathercote  for  the  purpose 
of  consulting  old  drawings  on  file  there." 

"Do  you  know  whether  duplicates  of  those  drawings 
were  preserved  in  the  War  Office?" 

"Never  had  occasion  to  look  up  anything  of  the  sort — 
but,  unquestionably,  there  must  have  been." 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  53 

"Do  you  suppose  Kitchener  has  men  in  his  department 
who  would  be  able  to  put  their  hands  on  those  Aldershot 
drawings  within  half  an  hour  or  so?" 

"I  fancy  there'll  be  no  doubt  of  that.  I'll  have  them 
put  me  on  to  him,  and  ask  to  have  the  papers  sent  here  at 
once,  if  you  think  they'll  be  of  use  to  us."  (The  telephon- 
ing was  a  matter  of  but  a  few  moments — War  Office  calls 
having  right  of  way.) 

"Well — go  on  with  the  Colonel's  history.  We've  not 
finished  with  that,  yet.  When  a  man  of  forty-three  has 
as  young  and  pretty  a  wife  as  Lady  Blanche,  quite  devoted 
to  him,  why  does  he  kiss  pretty  chambermaids  in  a  hotel, 
if  he's  presumably  sober?" 

"Eh?  My  word  I  Been  up  to  that  sort  of  thing,  has 
he?  Er — just  casually,  as  anyone  might,  or  is  he  taking 
her  on  for  a  continuous  performance?" 

"Well — I  fancy  he's  had  her  out  to  dinner  and  the 
theatre  more  than  once." 

"Humph!  Must  be  a  cut  above  the  ord'n'ry  hotel 
maid!  Is  she  pretty?  Good  taste  in  clothes?" 

"Quite!  She's  a  Wilhelmstrasse  woman,  Ned.  What 
I'm  trying  to  get  at  is  her  chance  of  pumping  him  for 
anything  he  may  know." 

"  Why — h-m-m-m!  Might  be  a  bit  serious  if  there  were 
anything  in  his  head  that  Wilhelmstrasse  desired  to  know! 
For  at  least  five  or  six  generations  the  men  of  his  family 
have  been  unable  to  resist  a  pretty  woman.  His  great- 
grandfather jilted  an  English  lady  to  run  off  with  the 
princess  of  a  small  German  State.  Their  marriage  was 
never  recognized,  and  he  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  her 
cousin.  His  grandfather  married  a  baroness — lovely 


54  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

woman,  four  beautiful  children — and  lived  openly  with  a 
well-known  prima  donna  in  Paris.  His  father  had  vari- 
ous affaires  in  different  parts  of  the  world — wherever  the 
War  Office  sent  him  on  engineering  work.  They've  all 
been  quite  open  about  it,  don't  you  know — never  seem  to 
realize  that  what  they  do  is  anything  more  than  a  pecca- 
dillo which  anyone  of  taste  should  ignore.  They've  all 
been  fond  of  their  wives  and  families,  too — but  there's 
something  in  the  blood  which  catches  fire  at  the  glimpse 
of  a  pretty  face  or  ankle.  The  trait  is  not  uncommon. 
There's  many  a  prominent  and  respectable  man  in  London 
who  has  it. 

"The  principal  thing  which  int'rests  me  in  this  affair  of 
Sir  Thomas's  is  what  the  little  baggage  may  get  out  of  him 
— and  from  the  information  at  our  disposal,  I  can  think  of 
practically  nothing!  The  Colonel  has  no  knowledge  of 
where  troops  are  going  when  they  leave  Aldershot.  His 
work  deals  with  barrack-construction — seeing  that  the 
various  units  are  quartered  to  advantage  for  prompt  as- 
sembling and  departure  when  the  orders  come — sanitary 
matters — that  sort  of  thing.  He's  not  in  position  to  know 
anything  about  munition-supply,  new  guns,  new  aero- 
planes, or  anything  like  that.  Of  course,  he  must  have 
some  knowledge  that  Germany  would  like  to  obtain,  but 
it's  second-hand  when  it  comes  to  him;  he's  not  the  man 
from  whom  they'd  attempt  to  get  it.  (Ah,  here  comes 
Leftenant  Graham,  from  the  War  Office,  with  a  bundle 
of  papers — the  Aldershot  drawings,  no  doubt.)  I  say, 
Nan — you'd  best  disappear  until  I've  sent  him  off  again, 
don't  you  know!  The  Condesa  de  la  Montaneta  isn't 
supposed  to  be  int'rested  in  anything  of  this  sort — and 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  55 

I  fancy  you've  no  intention  of  discarding  your  make-up  at 
present." 

When  the  lieutenant  had  delivered  the  Aldershot  draw- 
ings to  Sir  Edward  and  had  left  the  house,  Lady  Nan — 
still  with  the  black  hair,  darker  complexion,  and  fuller 
figure  of  the  Condesa — returned  to  the  library,  and  they 
sat  down  to  a  study  of  the  various  plans  in  detail.  The 
earlier  sketches  appeared  to  have  been  submitted  to  the 
War  Office  for  a  reconstruction  of  Aldershot  jCamp  prior 
to  those  adopted  during  the  administration  of  Secretary 
Stanhope  in  1890.  These  were  followed  by  the  tentative 
plans  subsequently  approved,  in  part — including  the  re- 
placing of  the  old  wooden  huts  of  the  Crimean  period  by 
substantial  brick  and  stone  barracks.  Considerable  at- 
tention appeared  to  have  been  given  the  question  of 
water  supply — a  number  of  drawings  illustrating  plans 
for  bringing  pure  drinking  water  from  streams  or  ponds  at 
considerable  distance.  The  system  eventually  carried 
out  was  found  in  its  proper  place,  and  was  shown  as  com- 
pleted in  a  survey  made  of  the  district  in  1898 — evi- 
dently a  tracing  from  General  Parker's  original.  It  was 
Lady  Nan  who  presently  discovered  upon  this  old  survey 
of  the  General's  some  dotted  lines  which  represented  a 
four-foot  main  of  cast-iron  piping — not  connected  with 
the  system  which  had  been  adopted,  but  leading  off  north- 
westward from  a  point  near  Fleet  Pond,  and  terminating 
in  the  woods  of  Bramshill  Common  eight  miles  away.  An 
asterisk  called  her  attention  to  a  note  upon  the  margin 
of  the  tracing,  in  writing  so  fine  and  faded  with  age  that 
she  used  a  magnifying  glass  to  read  it. 


56  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Dotted  lines  represent  section  of  four-foot  water  main  laid 
underground  at  time  the  work  was  abandoned.  Part  of  Sir 
John  Folkham's  plan  in  1884  for  bringing  water  from  River 
Kennet,  six  miles  S.  W.  of  Reading.  Was  to  have  been  emer- 
gency supply — location  of  line  known  only  to  Engineer  Corps, 
in  whose  charge  pumping  station  was  to  have  been  maintained. 
Plan  was  approved  by  Her  Majesty,  the  Queen — but  after  ten 
months'  work  it  was  decided  by  War  Office  that  artesian  well* 
could  be  sunk,  if  necessary,  at  far  less  expense. 

For  several  moments  Lady  Nan  studied  the  dotted 
lines  on  the  tracing,  noting  the  location  of  turnpikes  and 
other  roads  which  crossed  them  between  Aldershot  and 
the  spot  where  they  terminated.  Then  she  took  from  one 
of  the  library  files  a  section  of  Bartholomew's  half-inch- 
to-the-mile  topographic  map  covering  Berkshire,  with  the 
borders  of  Hampshire  and  Surrey. 

"Ned,  this  is  what  Wilhelmstrasse  is  after — the  original 
of  this  tracing!  They  want  to  know  the  exact  survey- 
line  of  that  old,  long-forgotten  water  main.  It  must  be 
there,  just  as  it  was  laid  down  over  thirty  years  ago. 
Probably  a  good  deal  eaten  with  rust,  and  yet,  with  neither 
water  nor  fresh  air  in  it  for  all  that  time,  there  wouldn't 
be  so  much  oxidization,  after  all.  Now,  what  possible 
use  could  any  German  spy  in  England  make  of  that  water 
main?  The  Aldershot  end  of  it  is  at  the  extreme  westerly 
edge  of  the  camp.  Even  if  they  had  men  enough  in  Berk- 
shire, they  couldn't  get  them  crawling  through  that  pipe 
fast  enough  to  surprise  the  troops  now  camped  around 
Aldershot;  we  must  have  over  two  hundred  thousand 
there  at  this  moment.  My  word!  That's  a  lot  of  men, 
isn't  it — for  one  instruction  camp! 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  5, 

"Do  you  suppose  that's  the  idea  working  in  the  German 
mind — a  force  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  picked  troops 
bunched  within  a  limited  radius?  Couldn't  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  a  zeppelin  attack,  could  it,  Ned?  I  say! 
We're  getting  warm,  don't  you  think?  And  weVe  spent 
all  the  time  we  need  to  on  these  drawings.  The  location 
of  that  old  water  main  is  undoubtedly  what  they're  trying 
to  get  out  of  Sir  Thomas — and  that  pretty  little  devil 
Betty  will  somehow  manage  it  before  she's  through  with 
him.  Hmph !  I  shall  have  to  take  a  hand  in  this — there's 
not  a  moment  to  lose!  Is  Achmet  out  there  with  my  car? 
Let  me  lock  this  tracing  in  George's  safety  vault,  down 
underground,  and  you  take  the  rest  back  to  Kitchener 
with  my  best  love  and  thanks  for  the  loan  of  them. 
Oh,  wait  a  moment !  Perhaps  I'd  better  keep 
one  of  those  other  drawings  with  this  one — I  think  I  can 
use  it  to  advantage.  Any  one  of  the  final  plans  will  do !  '* 

The  Condesa  knew  that  Sir  Thomas's  duties  would 
keep  him  at  Aldershot  most  of  the  following  afternoon. 
Starting  at  two  o'clock,  she  motored  the  thirty-three 
miles  in  something  over  an  hour — and  was  in  the  ladies' 
room  at  the  Officers'  Club,  with  the  wife  of  a  well-known 
general,  when  Sir  Thomas  came  in  for  his  tea  before  run- 
ning up  to  town.  As  both  were  returning  in  time  to  dress 
for  dinner  at  the  Carlton,  she  invited  him  to  accompany 
her — an  opportunity  which  he  accepted  with  every  appear- 
ance of  unexpected  pleasure.  The  Colonel  admired  his 
wife's  distinguished  friend  extremely,  but  hadn't  dared, 
for  obvious  reason,  to  make  any  advances  in  the  way  of 
flirtation;  so  when  she  started  in  with  him  on  a  basis  of 
friendly  intimacy,  he  began  to  imagine  himself  a  devil 


58  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

of  a  fellow  with  the  women.  By  the  time  they  reached 
town,  the  flirtation  had  progressed  far  enough  for  her  to 
agree  that  she  would  accompany  him,  that  evening,  to 
a  rather  exclusive  cabaret  in  the  West  End,  patronized 
by  well-known  musicians  and  writers.  She  was  the 
woman-of-the-world  in  every  word  and  action — so  bril- 
liant in  repartee  that  his  duller  wits  found  it  difficult  to 
keep  pace  with  her.  One  of  the  handsomest  women  in 
London — alluring,  provocative,  and  beginning  to  be  a 
celebrity.  He  knew,  the  moment  they  entered  the  cabaret, 
that  her  presence  with  him  added  materially  to  his  repu- 
tation. Under  conditions  of  this  sort  his  infatuation 
was  a  foregone  conclusion. 

Inside  of  a  week  it  had  reached  a  point  where  he  scarcely 
looked  up  from  his  papers  when  Betty  came  into  his  suite 
at  the  Carlton — which  provoked  and  alarmed  that  in- 
triguing young  person.  Before  the  Condesa  took  a  hand 
in  the  game,  she  had  obtained  a  part  of  what  she  hoped  to 
get  from  him,  but  it  wasn't  enough  for  her  purpose. 
Furthermore,  she  was  in  doubt  as  to  where  she  stood  with 
the  Condesa — who  certainly  appeared  to  be  interfering 
as  far  as  Sir  Thomas  Parker  was  concerned.  Bettina, 
however,  gave  no  indication  of  having  noticed  this — until 
she  went  into  the  Condesa's  suite,  one  day,  and  was 
invited  to  sit  down  for  a  chat  after  the  Moorish  maids 
had  been  sent  from  the  room. 

"Betty — you  remember  the  day  you  were  interested  in 
my  papers,  and  spent  a  few  uncomfortable  hours  being 
prodded  by  Ayesha's  knife?" 

"Oh,  yes,  madame.  I  think  your  maid  would  have 
enjoyed  killing  me!" 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  59 

"Had  you  made  any  resistance  she  most  certainly 
would  have  killed  you!  That  girl  is  worth  her  weight  in 
kronen  to  anyone  in  our  position!  Well,  you  learned 
something  about  me  which  surprised  you — even  as  we 
were  surprised  to  know  that  you  also  were  of  Wilhelm- 
strasse.  Since  then  we  have  ignored  your  connection 
with  Berlin — and  of  course  you've  paid  no  further  atten- 
tion to  me  in  that  respect.  Still,  one  cannot  help  noticing 
things  which  are  apparent  for  anyone  to  see.  I  was  in  a 
theatre-box,  one  evening,  when  you  sat  in  the  stalls  with 
Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Parker.  I  could  only  guess  at  your 
object  in  cultivating  him — until  he  began  paying  me 
very  marked  attentions.  Then  I  heard  all  about  his 
father's  connection  with  Aldershot,  and  knew  that  you 
must  be  working  upon  the  plan  which  was  under  con- 
sideration several  months  ago.  My  own  work  has  been 
in  a  different  quarter  altogether — in  fact,  I  know  nothing  of 
the  details  which  have  been  worked  out  in  your  affair.  But 
an  opportunity  presented  itself,  unexpectedly,  to  pick  up 
something  which  I  am  quite  sure  you  can  use  to  advantage. 
I  didn't  dare  keep  it — so  made  a  tracing  upon  strong  parch- 
ment tissue,  at  a  certain  house  where  I  was  sure  of  being 
undisturbed,  and  put  the  original  back  where  I  found  it." 

She  drew  from  a  drawer  in  her  davenport  a  tracing  of  the 
old  Folkham  Water  System,  just  as  it  had  been  drawn  by 
General  Parker  in  1884,  showing  the  dotted  lines  of  the 
four-foot  main,  which  had  been  partly  laid  down  and 
then  abandoned.  Betty  picked  up  a  large  reading  glass 
and  eagerly  examined  the  drawing — going  over  it  with  an 
attention  to  detail  which  indicated  considerable  knowledge 
of  engineering. 


60  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"It  will  be  useful,  madame,  because  the  original — 
which  we  stole  from  a  library  drawer  at  Feathercote — Sir 
Thomas's  place  in  Hampshire — was  accidentally  de- 
stroyed. A  draught  blew  it  into  a  sea-coal  fire  at  our 
rendezvous  in  Soho.  I  was  hoping — really  hoping — that 
you  had  managed  by  sheer  luck  to  obtain  a  plan  of  the 
present  tent-encampments  on  Laffan's  Plain  and  Farn- 
borough  Common — including  the  new  barracks  in  the 
North  and  South  Camps.  That  is  the  only  thing  we 
need  to  complete  our  preparations.  The  attempt  should 
be  made  within  a  fortnight,  because  the  number  of  troops 
now  drilling  there  is  larger  than  any  future  concentration 
is  likely  to  be.  The  time  to  strike  is  now — as  soon  as  we 
possibly  can !  The  weather  predictions  are  for  a  week  or 
more  of  fog  and  rain — ideal  conditions  for  the  attempt!" 

"You  had  already  located  the  line  of  that  four-foot 
main?" 

"  Six  months  ago !  Our  spies  near  Aldershot  had  talked 
with  some  of  the  older  villagers  west  of  the  camp  who 
remembered  when  the  pipe  was  laid  down,  but  couldn't 
point  out  the  exact  line.  It  was  that  report  which  started 
the  discussion  in  Berlin.  We  leased  three  old  manor 
houses  in  different  localities.  Two  are  near  Hartford 
Bridge,  and  the  other  is  on  the  border  of  the  woods  north- 
east of  Bramshill  Park  House.  There  are  thirty-five 
acres  belonging  to  this  manor — almost  entirely  wooded. 
We  made  borings  in  several  places,  and  had  the  luck  to 
strike  the  main  less  than  three  hundred  feet  from  the 
house.  It  was  a  simple  matter  to  excavate  a  tunnel  from 
the  cellar  to  it,  but  it  took  us  a  month  before  we  could 
locate  the  line  as  far  as  the  woods  of  Blackbushes,  and  tap 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  61 

it  for  ventilation  without  being  caught.  Of  course,  the 
air  in  it  would  have  killed  anyone  attempting  to  crawl 
through  before  that.  By  the  end  of  the  second  month 
we  had  rigged  a  little  track  for  a  miniature  car  and  cleaned 
out  the  entire  length  to  the  first  section,  north  of  Fleet 
Pond  at  Aldershot.  Then  we  commenced  tunnelling  in  two 
directions,  one  toward  the  North  Camp  and  the  other 
toward  the  South  Camp,  with  provision  for  piping  under 
the  present  tent-encampments  on  Laffan's  Plain,  Farn- 
borough  Common,  and  Long  Valley.  That  work  has 
been  completed.  Our  tunnels  are  twenty  feet  under- 
ground; we  don't  dare  go  upward  toward  the  surface  until 
we  know  exactly  where  we  can  shove  up  the  ends  of  two- 
inch  pipes  without  detection." 

"You  have  your  materials  all  assembled  for  the  work — 
when  the  time  comes?" 

"Oh,  yes,  madame.  We  excavated  a  large  chamber, 
underground,  and  brought  in  the  machinery  piece  by 
piece.  We  run  the  place  as  a  stock  farm — breeding  horses. 
The  stables  are  fifteen  hundred  feet  from  the  manor 
house,  so  that  army  officers  who  come  to  purchase  mounts 
very  rarely  stop  there.  With  nearly  two  hundred  horses, 
mares,  and  foals,  we  use  a  great  deal  of  hay  and  straw. 
All  of  our  lime  and  acid — the  glazed  tiling  for  the  storage 
tank  and  the  conduit  through  the  big  water  main — has 
been  fetched  to  us  inside  great  loads  of  hay  and  straw  for 
the  stables.  It  has  been  slow  work,  getting  the  amount  we 
needed  for  the  attempt,  but  it  is  amazing  how  much  can 
be  accumulated  in  six  months.  For  the  past  fortnight 
we  have  been  running  eight  air-compressors  by  small 
paraffin  motors  and  storing  the  liquid  chlorine  in  an  air- 


62  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

tight,  porcelain-lined  reservoir  adjoining  that  underground 
chamber.  The  manor  house  stands  upon  high  ground, 
and  the  big  water  main  was  laid  twenty-five  feet  below 
the  surface  at  that  point — so  the  liquid  chlorine  will  run 
down  into,  and  along  it,  by  gravity.  The  end  section  of 
the  main  at  Aldershot  is  a  hundred  feet  lower  than  that  at 
Bramshill  Park,  and  we  have  laid  a  porcelain-lined  con- 
duit through  it  for  the  entire  distance,  to  carry  the  stuff. 
From  the  end  of  that  conduit  we  will  connect  two-inch 
cast-iron  pipes  and  shove  them  a  few  inches  above  the 
ground  in  spots  among  the  tents  and  barracks  where  they 
will  not  be  noticed — admitting  the  chlorine  to  them 
through  a  heavy  gate-valve  at  the  proper  moment." 

"You  speak  as  though  you  had  seen  all  these  prepara- 
tions yourself,  Bettina!" 

"I  have,  madame.  It  was  necessary  for  me  to  know 
exactly  what  papers  and  drawings  we  required.  Of  course, 
if  we  cannot  obtain  the  plan  of  the  tent-encampments,  we 
must  take  our  chances  in  coming  up  to  the  surface  at 
spots  determined  by  an  underground  survey — but  that 
greatly  increases  the  risk." 

"Suppose  I  succeed  in  obtaining  that  plan  for  you?  I 
wonder  if  it  would  be  safe  for  me  to  fetch  it  down  to  that 
manor  house?  Do  you  raise  thoroughbreds  at  that  stock 
farm?  I  ride  in  the  Park  every  morning.  That  would 
be  a  perfectly  reasonable  excuse  for  motoring  down 
there." 

"Oh,  yes,  Madame — and  Franz  Schufeldt  would  feel 
much  honored  if  you  would  inspect  his  work.  One  never 
knows  whether  he  will  succeed  or  fail  in  an  attempt  like 
this,  but  it  helps  his  standing  in  Wilhelmstrasse  if  it  is 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  63 

known  that  he  performed  his  part  of  the  work  faithfully. 
It  would  please  us  much,  madame,  if  you  would  inspect 
the  work  and  report  it  in  Berlin." 

"The  only  point  to  be  considered  is  whether  by  any 
chance  my  visit  to  that  manor  house  might  be  remembered 
afterward,  and  arouse  suspicion?  We  couldn't  afford  that 
— because  my  work  is  even  more  important  than  yours." 

"We  have  sold  horses  to  several  of  the  aristocracy, 
madame — besides  the  army.  You  would  be  safe  enough 
at  the  stables.  And  Franz  could  offer  you  tea  at  the 
manor  house." 

Three  days  later  the  Condesa  motored  down  to  Hamp- 
shire and  had  little  difficulty  in  locating  the  Bramshill 
Stock  Farm  owned  by  Mr.  Frank  Sheffield — a  genial, 
fox-hunting  county  squire  whom  nobody  would  have 
thought  of  being  other  than  a  roast-beef  Englishman. 
After  purchasing  a  beautiful  chestnut  mare  for  saddle  use 
she  accepted  his  courteous  suggestion  of  tea,  and  gave 
him  a  lift  in  her  car  to  the  manor  house.  When  secure 
from  observation  in  his  study  she  handed  him  a  flat 
parcel  which  she  had  been  carrying  in  her  muff.  When 
he  unfolded  this  upon  his  desk  it  proved  to  be  a  tracing  of 
the  plan,  less  than  ten  months  old,  upon  which  the  tent- 
encampments  and  new  permanent  barracks  had  been 
laid  out — in  fact,  a  detailed  survey  of  everything  in  the 
Aldershot  district,  with  smaller  sheets  of  each  camp. 

After  going  over  it  for  half  an  hour  he  led  her  down  into 
the  cellar  by  a  concealed  stairway  and,  through  a  tunnel, 
into  the  large  underground  chamber  where  the  air-com- 
pressors, vats,  and  great  storage  reservoir  were.  From 


64  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

one  corner  of  this  he  took  her  through  a  descending  tunnel 
which  ended  in  the  old  four-foot  water  main.  Here  he 
showed  her  the  porcelain-lined  conduit  which  had  been 
laid  along  the  bottom  of  the  piping — providing  an  inner 
sluiceway  for  the  liquid  chlorine,  sixteen  inches  wide  and 
six  high.  At  either  side  of  this  had  been  laid  small  rails 
upon  which  ran  a  miniature  flat-car  about  large  enough  to 
carry  an  average-sized  man,  lying  at  full  length.  At 
one  end  of  it  was  an  electric  motor,  fed  from  a  storage 
battery — and  through  the  line  of  piping  there  was  a  strong 
current  of  fresh  air  from  an  electrically  driven  fan. 
Madame  was  strongly  tempted  to  explore  the  entire 
seven  miles  of  piping  and  inspect  the  system  of  tunnelling 
under  Aldershot — but  it  would  have  taken  at  least  three 
hours,  and  her  long  stay  at  the  manor  house  might  have 
been  remembered. 

After  she  had  left  him,  Mr.  Sheffield  (or  Franz  Schu- 
feldt,  as  he  was  known  in  Berlin)  motored  over  to  Alder- 
shot,  with  the  details  of  the  tracings  fixed  in  his  mind, 
and  satisfied  himself  that  they  were  correct  in  every 
particular. 

Next  evening  proved  rainy  and  foggy.  At  ten  o'clock 
a  company  of  sappers  left  the  South  Camp  in  two  motor- 
vans  and  disappeared,  around  Fleet  Pond,  on  the  road 
which  led  through  Blackbushes.  In  the  heart  of  the 
woods  they  came  upon  a  cavalry  patrol  sitting  his  horse 
where  a  little  blind  path  left  the  road — which  was  a  rough 
one,  seldom  used.  Following  him  along  this  path,  they 
came  to  a  big  oak — in  the  bark  of  which  they  could  just 
make  out  the  lines  of  what  had  once  been  engineering 
symbols  cut  many  years  before.  Here,  after  lighting  a 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  65 

dozen  lanterns,  they  began  digging  a  hole  ten  feet  in 
diameter — using  great  care  to  work  as  noiselessly  as  pos- 
sible. At  a  depth  of  four  feet  they  came  upon  a  big 
cylindrical  something  which  they  carefully  avoided  strik- 
ing with  their  spades.  After  two  hours'  work  they  had 
dug  down  at  each  side  of  the  great  cylinder  until  they 
could  stow  a  number  of  packages  under  it. 

Twice,  while  digging,  they  had  heard  a  rumbling  sound 
inside  which  seemed  to  approach  from  the  westward  and 
then  recede  again.  Each  time  this  occurred  they  stood 
without  making  a  sound  until  the  noise  had  died  away 
entirely.  When  their  preparations  were  complete,  several 
ends  from  a  main  wire  were  attached  to  the  packages  under 
the  big  cylinder  and  they  walked  back  to  the  road,  paying 
out  the  wire  after  them.  Then  one  of  the  engineers 
turned  a  crank  in  a  square  box — and  there  was  a  stunning 
concussion  which  shook  the  ground  for  a  radius  of  half  a 
mile.  Groping  their  way  back  to  where  they  had  been 
digging,  they  found  a  yawning  pit  twenty  feet  deep  and  a 
hundred  feet  in  diameter.  The  mangled  trunks  of  a  dozen 
trees  had  fallen  into  it,  and  upon  opposite  sides  were  torn 
and  twisted  sections  of  four-foot  iron  piping — choked 
solid  with  debris.  Leaving  guards  at  the  edge  of  the  pit, 
the  sappers  climbed  into  their  motor-vans  and  returned 
to  Aldershot. 

In  the  meanwhile,  three  troops  of  cavalry  had  ridden 
by  another  road  to  Bramshill  Park,  silently  drawing  a  cor- 
don about  the  stock  farm  and  manor  house — concealing 
themselves  behind  trees  and  shrubbery.  There  they 
waited  until  some  men  from  the  house  came  along  in  a 
car.  These  were  quietly  arrested  and  sent  to  Aldershot. 


66  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

In  the  next  two  hours  several  other  men  and  one  woman 
came  from  the  house  and  stables,  being  arrested  like 
their  fellows.  At  ten  in  the  morning  the  troopers  closed 
in,  but  the  house  appeared  to  be  deserted,  and  the  under- 
ground chambers  also.  Dynamite  was  then  placed  in 
various  places,  and  the  entire  plant  blown  out  of  existence, 
after  the  troopers  had  ridden  to  a  sufficient  distance  to  be 
safe  from  the  liberated  chlorine  in  the  big  reservoir. 

Late  that  evening  Madame  la  Condesa — beautifully 
gowned  for  the  opera — was  awaiting  the  arrival  of  her 
escort,  a  Cabinet  Minister,  when  there  was  a  faint  tapping 
at  the  door  of  her  suite,  and  Ayesha  admitted  the  girl 
Betty.  When  they  were  alone,  with  the  doors  locked, 
Betty  staggered  to  a  chair — her  teeth  chattering.  Pouring 
a  glass  of  wine,  the  Condesa  held  it  to  her  lips  until  she 
had  swallowed  it — then  said,  guardedly: 

"Wait  a  few  moments  until  your  nerves  are  steadier, 
my  dear.  You  increase  the  danger  for  all  of  us  by  going 
to  pieces  in  this  way!" 

"I  know  that,  madame — oh,  I  know  it!  But — every 
second,  I  seem  to  feel  the  hand  upon  my  shoulder;  I  fear 
some  man  I  never  saw  before  will  take  me  by  the  elbow 
and  whisper  in  my  ear  that  I  must  go  with  him — quietly, 
without  any  show  of  resistance — as  they  did  to  poor 
Johann  in  the  hotel  office  half  an  hour  ago !  It  was  done 
just  as  quietly  as  that.  Johann  knew — but  he  spoke  to 
the  manager  and  asked  if  he  could  go  out  for  an  hour  or 
two  with  the  gentleman  upon  a  matter  of  importance; 
then  he  put  on  his  hat  and  coat  and  walked  out  with  the 
man,  smoking  a  cigarette.  It  was  the  same  with  Katrina, 
on  the  second  floor!  A  gentleman  spoke  to  her  in  the 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  67 

corridor — told  her  to  get  into  the  servants'  lift  and  go  up 
to  her  room  for  her  wraps.  He  didn't  let  her  out  of  his 
sight  a  second — made  her  walk  out  of  the  servants'  en- 
trance ahead  of  him !  She  knew  there  was  no  escape — so 
she  didn't  try  to  run  away  in  the  street.  Mr.  Chudleigh 
Sammis  had  been  spending  hah*  an  hour  with  Colonel 
Parker  in  his  suite  on  this  floor.  He  saw  me  in  the  cor- 
ridor when  he  came  out — whispered  that  he  was  leaving 
by  the  night  train  for  Liverpool,  and  sailing  on  one  of 
the  Lamport  and  Holt  steamers  for  Buenos  Ayres;  said 
he  would  tell  the  reporters  that  he  was  going  down  to 
study  labor  conditions  in  Argentina." 

"The  worst  move  he  could  possibly  make — dangerous 
for  all  of  us!  Looks  suspicious!  They'll  never  let  him 
sail!  We  must  try  to  catch  him  on  the  telephone!  What 
is  it  all  about,  anyhow?" 

"Haven't  you  seen  the  evening  papers,  madame?  *It 
is  said  that  someone  at  Aldershot  heard  a  faint  noise 
underground  which  made  him  suspect  our  tunnelling. 
Some  of  the  Engineer  officers  looked  up  the  old  recon- 
struction drawings,  traced  that  line  of  water  main,  sus- 
pected our  stock  farm,  and  began  watching  it.  Last 
night  the  sappers  dynamited  a  section  of  the  piping  in  the 
woods  two  miles  west  of  Aldershot.  This  morning  a 
cavalry  detail  arrested  nine  of  us  from  the  manor  house — 
found  your  tracings  and  other  papers  in  Franz's  desk — 
and  blew  up  the  whole  plant.  It  is  thought  that  half  a 
dozen  men,  including  Franz  himself,  are  buried  alive  in 
the  tunnels  under  the  camps.  The  others  were  all  shot  at 
sunset.  Johann  and  Katrina  will  be  shot  in  the  morning 
— or  hanged — in  the  Tower,  where  they  were  taken." 


68  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Do  you  think  that  any  of  them  betrayed  you  or  the 
rest  of  us  in  London?" 

"No,  madame;  they  died  without  any  admission  of 
their  Wilhelmstrasse  connection,  I  am  sure.  But  if 
Sir  Thomas  by  any  chance  remembers  what  he  told  me  in 
the  library  of  his  town  house — the  night  he  was  drunk 
there,  alone  with  me — or  if  the  disappearance  of  those 
plans  is  traced  to  you,  madame — well,  that  would  settle 
it!" 

"Bettina,  in  the  game  we  play,  nothing  is  more  certain 
to  arouse  suspicion  than  the  slightest  evidence  of  apprehen- 
sion. I  have  faced  death  more  than  once  with  a  laugh  of 
amazed  denial  upon  my  lips — when  I  could  see  no  possible 
escape,  and  believed  my  life  was  measured  only  by  seconds. 
Never  admit  being  guilty  even  while  you  are  dying! 
That  is  a  principle  in  all  underground  diplomacy.  Do  not 
compromise  others  even  if  you  must  yourself  die!  The 
safest  place  in  the  world  for  Chudleigh  Sammis  is  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  of  Commons — representing  his  con- 
stituency. The  safest  place  for  you  and  me,  just  now,  is 
right  here  in  this  hotel — doing  exactly  what  we've  been 
doing  every  day!  I  doubt  if  the  management  knows 
anything  whatsoever  against  you.  Your  duties  here  con- 
stitute an  almost  perfect  alibi." 

Considerably  reassured,  Betty  left  the  Condesa's 
suite  and  tried  to  forget  her  haunting  terror  in  the  activi- 
ties demanded  by  her  position.  But  for  a  fortnight 
several  of  the  guests  who  really  liked  the  girl  thought  from 
her  paleness  and  lassitude  that  she  must  be  coming  down 
with  a  serious  illness.  In  the  room  she  occupied  with 
three  other  girls,  up  under  the  roof,  the  dread  of  a  zep- 


"THE  ALDERSHOT  AFFAIR"  69 

pelin  raid  and  annihilation  from  the  dynamite  in  the  sand 
bags  over  her  head  was  enough  to  prevent  her  sleeping 
for  more  than  a  few  moments  at  a  time.  Upon  the  streets, 
the  passing  glance  of  any  unknown  man  sent  a  chill  down 
her  back  which  made  her  feel  faint.  One  night — at  the 
house  in  Soho — she  typed  a  warning  to  the  hotel  manage- 
ment concerning  the  dynamite.  When  no  attention  was 
paid  to  it,  she  sent  another  anonymous  warning — and  was 
immensely  relieved  when  finally  the  explosive  was  re- 
moved. The  constant  strain  she  had  been  under  for  ten 
months  in  London  had  developed  a  functional  weakness  in 
her  heart  which  nothing  but  rest  and  freedom  from  anxiety 
could  relieve.  Had  she  known  that  she  was  under  con- 
stant espionage  from  Downing  Street  men,  she  would 
probably  have  died  of  heart  failure.  But  with  the  idea  of 
using  the  girl  to  obtain  future  information  vital  to  the 
safety  of  England,  Lady  Nan  insisted  that  she  be  left 
unmolested  unless  caught  in  some  fresh  plot  against  the 
Empire.  As  for  madarne  herself,  Betty  felt  a  wondering 
admiration  for  her  sang  froid  and  apparent  indifference 
to  deadly  risk. 


CHAPTER  HI 

TOUCHING   UPON   THE    HONOR   OF   ISLAM 

OF  ALL  the  varied  conglomerations  of  human 
activity  in  London — that  melting-pot  of  all  races 
— there  are  few  more  interesting  to  the  casual 
observer  than  the  seething  life  of  the  great  docks  which 
line  the  Thames  for  more  than  seven  miles,  counting  east- 
ward from  the  Tower. 

In  the  blurring  atmosphere  of  a  foggy  day,  the  Royal 
Albert  Dock  is  a  maze  full  of  mysterious  monsters  from 
which  come  echoes  of  strange  Eastern  tongues  guiding 
the  passage  of  indefinite  shapes  from  unseen  depths — 
up,  overhead — and  into  the  cavernous  maws  of  deeper 
shadows  on  the  quays.  In  the  brightness  of  an  occasional 
sunny  morning  it  is  a  riot  of  color  from  the  orange-red 
of  a  rusty  "tramp"  to  the  black  and  buff  of  the  great 
P.  &  O.  boats.  Scarlet  turbans,  brown  faces,  black 
beards,  pink  caftans,  white  Hindu  drawers,  wrappings  of 
manila  and  palm-leaf,  teak  logs,  baled  tobacco.  Over 
all,  the  spicy  tang  and  smell  of  the  Orient,  mixed  with  soft- 
coal  smoke  and  odors  peculiar  to  London  itself. 

Upon  the  forecastle  of  a  big  East  India  steamer,  one 
morning,  half  a  dozen  Hindus  were  squatting  around  a 
bowl  of  rice — steaming  hot,  from  the  galley — pawing  out 
of  it  handfuls  which,  for  convenience,  they  transferred  to 
smaller  bowls  from  which  they  ate.  Four  were  members 

70 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  71 

of  the  Lascar  crew — shipped  in  Bombay.  The  fifth  had 
come  aboard  at  Port  Sai'd — taking  passage  in  the  Oriental 
steerage  for  a  few  rupees.  The  active  man  with  the  black 
beard  and  green  turban — to  whom  the  others  paid  marked 
respect,  as  one  who  had  made  the  pilgrimage — had  taken 
his  steerage  passage  from  Aden,  having  gone  down  the 
coast  of  the  Red  Sea  to  Mecca  on  the  "te-rain,"  as  he  said, 
over  the  line  of  the  new  Turkish  railway. 

Both  the  Hadji  and  the  man  from  Port  Said,  having 
paid  that  which  was  demanded  for  their  passage  to  Lon- 
don, were  privileged  to  squat  upon  then*  heels  all  day  long 
— chewing  betel,  smoking  their  chibouks,  listening  to  the 
narratives  of  such  as  had  the  gift,  partaking  of  food  when 
it  was  served  out  and  demeaning  themselves  as  persons  of 
importance — men  of  wealth  who  travelled  for  pleasure. 
But  the  obvious  incompetence  of  a  Karachi  donkey- 
engine  man  had  called  forth  such  a  stream  of  invective  in 
the  vernacular  from  the  Hadji,  that  the  Lascar  muallim 
suggested  a  demonstration  of  proficiency — the  result  being 
that,  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  the  Hadji's  passage-money 
was  returned  to  him  with  a  bonus  of  twenty  rupees  for 
services  rendered  en  route.  The  Port  Said  Turk — having 
made  himself  useful  in  other  ways — broke  even,  getting 
his  passage  in  lieu  of  pay.  And  they  were  now  question- 
ing the  Lascars  who  had  been  to  London  before,  as  to 
what  caravanserai  was  safest  for  Oriental  travellers — 
which  of  them  was  noted  for  a  minimum  of  insect  life; 
where  the  principal  mosques  were  located,  the  bazaars, 
the  objects  of  interest;  whether  it  was  cheaper  to  hire  a 
camel  for  travelling  through  the  country  or  use  the  "te- 
rain,"  at  native  rates. 


72  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

The  bare  facts  set  forth  by  the  Lascars  as  to  the  fun- 
damental differences  between  London  life  and  that  of  the 
Orient  would  have  branded  them  as  the  children  of  liars 
had  it  not  been  for  the  incomprehensible  wonders  already 
witnessed  on  their  way  up  the  Thames.  They  told  of 
things  so  amazing  as  to  be  almost  unbelievable,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  both  the  Hadji  and  his  fellow-passenger 
had  been  in  Bombay  and  other  large  cities  of  the  Angrezi 
Raj.  To  a  student  of  Eastern  life  the  conversation 
around  that  rice  bowl  upon  the  littered  forecastle  of  the 
Shanklin  Hall  would  have  been  illuminating. 

After  much  discussion  it  was  decided  that  the  two 
should  accompany  the  Lascar  bo's'n  to  a  house  where  he 
was  accustomed  to  lodge,  over  Bromley  way — thereby 
avoiding  the  more  exhorbitant  charges  of  the  sailors' 
lodging-houses  and  lower-class  hotels  in  the  Dock  quar- 
ter. When  the  Hadji  and  his  fellow-traveller  appeared  in 
the  gangway  in  their  picturesque  caftans  and  white  draw- 
ers, fastened  tightly  around  their  ankles — their  personal 
belongings  tied  up  in  cotton  cloths  of  saffron-color  and 
pink — the  Muallim  objected  to  his  bo's'n  leaving  the  ship. 
Upon  which,  the  four  of  them  squatted  patiently  upon 
the  deck  and  proceeded  to  argue  the  matter — the  bo's'n 
swearing  by  the  beard  of  the  Prophet  that  his  intentions 
were  merely  to  secure  accommodations  for  the  holy  Hadjis 
where  they  would  be  neither  robbed  nor  eaten  alive,  and 
that  he  would  honorably  return  to  his  duties  aboard 
ship  in  the  morning.  There  was  no  hurry.  It  was 
approaching  noon,  and  the  'longshore  stevedores  were 
doing  most  of  the  work  in  discharging  the  cargo;  so  they 
chatted  and  smoked  for  nearly  an  hour,  at  the  end  of 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  73 

which  the  three  were  permitted  to  go  ashore  with  passes 
which  got  them  safely  through  the  Dock  gates  without 
serious  delay  from  the  military  guard. 

Getting  into  a  third-class  compartment  at  Central 
Station,  they  rode  as  far  as  Canning  Town,  where  they 
changed  to  the  top  of  a  bus  going  west  over  the  River 
Lea  Bridge  into  Bromley.  Dwellers  in  the  East  End  of 
London  are  accustomed  to  the  sight  of  picturesque  Orien- 
tals— every  race  on  the  globe,  for  that  matter — so  no 
particular  attention  was  paid  to  the  swarthy  Hindus  with 
their  bright-colored  bundles.  Your  Hindu  is  not  a  chat- 
terer, by  nature,  when  in  a  strange  land.  He  keeps  a 
tight  mouth,  an  open  eye,  and  a  hand  which  stealthily 
fondles  the  haft  of  a  knife  under  his  coat  at  times — that 
he  may  be  ready  to  defend  himself  upon  occasion. 

The  detached  house  to  which  the  Lascar  took  them  was 
owned  by  a  thrifty  Bengali  who  knew  the  requirements  of 
his  countrymen  and  the  profit  to  be  made  thereby  in  a  city 
where  the  usual  manner  of  living  was  so  entirely  foreign 
to  them.  A  Chinaman  would  have  got  more  profit  out 
of  the  same  house,  because  he  would  have  lined  each  wall 
to  the  ceiling  with  bunks — but  his  was  the  only  race  which 
might  have  beaten  the  Bengali.  In  the  basement  he 
served  coffee,  kabobs,  pilau — accompanied  by  a  narghile 
from  the  row  which  hung  upon  hooks  around  the  room — 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  so  couldn't  very  well 
utilize  that  space  for  lodgings.  But  in  each  room  of  the 
upper  floors  a  raised  platform — eighteen  inches  high  and 
seven  feet  wide — ran  along  one  side  and  end,  with  a  mat- 
tress of  burlap-covered  excelsior  two  inches  thick.  If 
they  lay  fairly  close  to  each  other,  even  the  smaller 


74  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

rooms  could  thus  be  made  to  accommodate  half  a  dozen 
sleepers  at  least.  And,  in  justice  to  the  Bengali,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  he  sprayed  insect-powder  over  each 
burlap  mattress  at  least  once  every  two  months.  Of 
course,  each  guest  usually  brought  with  him  a  certain 
number  of  pensioners  which  maintained  a  floating  aver- 
age, so  to  speak — but  from  the  Oriental  viewpoint,  the 
place  was  fairly  comfortable. 

After  depositing  their  bundles  in  a  cellar  bin  provided 
for  that  purpose,  the  Hadji  and  his  friends  proceeded  to 
regale  themselves  with  pilau,  sweets,  and  coffee — followed 
by  narghiles  and  a  comfortable  period  of  relaxation  upon 
the  basement  divan.  As  it  happened,  they  had  the  place 
to  themselves  for  an  hour  or  so.  When  this  was  quite 
apparent,  occasional  low  remarks  were  tentatively  drop- 
ped— considered — answered  briefly.  Such  a  matter,  now 
as  had  been  mentioned  in  the  Mediterranean — touching 
upon  profit  to  be  had  from  knowing  ones  in  the  great 
Angrezi  city?  Aie,  there  was  no  mistake!  Such  a  one 
in  Arabia  had  mentioned  a  name,  and  a  place.  If,  now, 
a  True  Believer  were  to  find  that  one  and  obtain  a  certain 
chit — so  thin  that  it  could  be  rolled  into  a  ball  no  bigger 
than  a  hazel  nut  and  swallowed,  upon  occasion — it  was 
said  that  a  hundred  rupees  might  be  had  for  carrying 
such  a  matter  to  a  certain  other  place.  Behold,  also — 
there  was  profit  in  the  knowledge  of  where  certain  Turkish 
armies  were,  at  that  time,  and  how  soon  they  would  fall 
upon  the  Angrezi  in  Egypt.  Touching  upon  the  tale 
borne  by  that  one  who  had  come  down  the  Nile  to  Port 
Said,  it  was  sure  that  a  jihad  was  brewing  in  the  Soudan. 
Here,  also,  be  knowledge  that  might  be  turned  to  ac- 


SIR  ABDOOL  MOHAMMED  KHAN 

ENTERING  THE  MOHAMMEDAN  LODGING-HOUSE  NEAR  THE  DOCKS, 
IN  THE  EAST  END  OF  LONDON 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  75 

count  with  certain  ones  who  would  pay  for  good  tidings  in 
London.  Aie!  Achmet,  the  bo's'n,  knew  well  this  great 
and  terrible  city  of  the  Angrezi,  and  need  not  return  to  the 
Docks  until  morning.  By  night  would  he  take  them  to  a 
certain  place,  and  be  given  refreshment  for  his  trouble — 
even  a  rupee  or  so  if  fortune  favored  them. 

As  they  smoked,  and  talked  in  monosyllables — ampli- 
fied by  expressive  shrugs  and  glances  which  conveyed 
fuller  meanings  without  words — a  tall  Pathan  came  down 
the  steps  from  the  street.  Clapping  his  hands,  he  motioned 
for  narghile  and  sherbet — proceeding  to  make  himself 
comfortable  near  them  on  the  rough  divan.  From  his 
appearance  and  caste  marks  he  might  have  been  khan- 
samah  in  the  house  of  some  wealthy  personage;  his  cloth- 
ing was  of  better  quality  than  that  of  the  Hadji.  Evi- 
dently, he  frequented  the  place  because  of  the  coffee 
served  by  the  Bengali,  but  a  veiled  glance  or  two  made 
them  doubt  that  he  was  a  lodger.  He  seemed  one  fa- 
vored by  Allah  with  money  and  position  among  the 
Angrezi,  yet  bore  himself  with  the  courtesy  and  humility 
of  a  True  Believer. 

Like  the  average  Oriental  in  a  strange  country,  the  last 
arrival  minded  his  own  business — apparently  absorbed  in 
his  thoughts.  Presently  the  Hadji  ventured  a  guttural 
salutation — being  a  privileged  person  because  of  his  pil- 
grimage. The  stranger  responded  with  the  customary 
Mohammedan  proverb,  and  permitted  himself  to  be 
drawn  into  a  somewhat  halting  discourse  upon  matters  of 
interest  to  be  observed  in  the  great  city  of  the  Angrezi. 

The  Lascar  was  for  making  the  most  of  his  time 
ashore — proposing  that  they  should  journey  westward 


76  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

during  the  afternoon  and  visit  this  place  or  that.  This 
suggestion  appealed  to  the  man  from  Port  Said,  but  the 
Hadji  preferred  remaining  in  surroundings  more  familiar 
to  him  until  he'd  had  a  little  more  time  to  adjust  himself — 
say,  until  night,  when  the  wonders  of  the  city  would 
be  more  amazing.  Possibly  the  stranger  would  play  with 
him  a  game  of  chess  or  pachesi,  to  pass  the  time?  Aie — 
it  was  even  so.  The  man  clapped  his  hands — upon  which 
the  Bengali's  son  fetched  a  chess-board  and  placed  it 
upon  the  divan  between  them. 

The  Lascar  and  the  Port  Said  man  went  out  upon  a 
voyage  of  discovery — leaving  the  other  two  playing  their 
game  with  great  deliberation  and  few  words.  Again 
the  room  was  empty  save  for  the  two  players.  A  great 
stove  at  the  farther  end  kept  the  temperature  above  70° 
and  steam  from  the  mass  of  wet  clothing  had  condensed 
upon  the  two  small  windows  during  the  forenoon  until  the 
panes  were  opaque.  In  the  rear  the  Bengali  could  be 
heard  scolding  two  of  his  women. 

When  the  stranger  first  came  into  the  room  he  had 
noticed  a  loose  end  of  the  Hadji's  green  turban  which  had 
been  tucked  over  his  left  ear;  there  were,  also,  a  bruise- 
discoloration  upon  the  second  finger  of  his  right  hand  and 
a  small  birthmark  upon  the  side  of  his  neck.  When  cer- 
tain that  nobody  could  overhear  them,  he  said — in  a  very 
low  tone,  without  perceptibly  moving  his  lips: 

"We  couldn't  be  sure  as  to  just  what  boat  you'd  catch — 
but  there  aren't  over  thirty  of  these  Oriental  lodging- 
houses  within  a  reasonable  distance  of  the  Docks,  and 
we've  paid  occasional  visits  to  each  of  them  during  the 
last  two  weeks.  There's  always  a  lot  of  gossip  which  may 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  77 

be  picked  up — so  the  time  was  by  no  means  wasted. 
Now — what  do  you  suggest?" 

"H-m-m — the  Port  Said  man  is  a  Turco-German  spy 
through  whom  we  can  reach  a  nest  of  'em  here  in  London. 
Have  us  followed  to-night,  when  we  go  into  the  City. 
On  the  third  day  you'd  best  have  us  both  arrested  by  an 
ordinary  'Bobby' — upon  some  petty  charge — and  taken 
before  a  magistrate.  He  will  discharge  the  Port  Said 
man  for  lack  of  evidence,  but  hold  me.  At  night  he  will 
send  me  west  to  Scotland  Yard  in  a  closed  motor-van 
in  which  there  will  be  a  change  of  clothing.  You  can  sit  in 
front  with  the  chauffeur.  Give  me  time  to  change — then 
speed  up  until  you're  sure  nobody  is  following  us,  set  me 
down  at  Number  395  Park  Street,  and  dismiss  the  van. 
My  people  in  Park  Street  will  recognize  me,  even  with  this 
beard." 

Having  thus  briefly  covered  every  point  necessary  to  a 
thorough  understanding  they  switched  back  to  Urdu  and 
went  on  with  their  chess. 

That  night  the  Lascar  took  his  companions — with 
several  changes  from  the  Underground  to  electric  tram 
and  'bus — to  what  seemed  a  semi-respectable  boarding- 
house  in  Bethnal  Green.  Among  the  twenty  or  more 
occupants  were  Russians,  Poles,  Orientals,  Swiss,  and 
West  Indians — if  one  judged  them  by  language  and  racial 
appearance.  But  had  a  stranger  of  either  nationality 
applied  for  room  or  board,  he  would  not  have  been  ad- 
mitted without  certain  passwords  and  credentials.  Had 
suspicion  been  aroused  as  to  where  he  might  have  obtained 
them,  he  never  would  have  left  the  place  alive.  For  a 
Turk  may  easily  pass  for  any  Mohammedan  Oriental; 


78  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

a  conspiring  Soudanese  for  a  West  Indian;  a  Russian, 
Pole  or  Swiss,  for  German  or  Hungarian. 

A  certain  rug-dealer — Dimitri  by  name — was  the  man 
for  whom  they  inquired.  They  were  left  waiting  at  the 
door  until  he  came  down  to  them,  but  after  noting  certain 
almost  imperceptible  peculiarities  about  their  clothing  and 
hearing  three  names  mentioned,  he  took  them  to  a  large 
room  upon  an  upper  floor  where  other  men  were  drinking 
beer  and  discussing  certain  matters  in  whispers. 

It  was  daybreak  when  they  returned  to  the  Bengali's 
— the  Lascar  going  on  to  his  ship  in  the  Royal  Albert 
Dock.  Next  afternoon,  as  the  Hadji  and  the  Port  Sai'd 
man  were  strolling  along  one  of  the  East  End  streets,  they 
were  arrested  upon  the  complaint  of  a  tradesman  who 
claimed  they  had  purchased  in  his  shop  certain  packages  of 
tobacco  for  which  they  had  paid  him  but  half  price,  claim- 
ing that  to  be  all  the  stuff  was  worth.  The  Hadji  had 
indeed  bargained  for  two  boxes  of  Turkish  tobacco  and 
endeavored  to  beat  the  tradesman  down — after  the 
manner  of  the  East,  where  standardization  of  prices  is 
a  thing  unknown — but  to  the  best  of  the  Port  Said  man's 
understanding  the  tradesman  had  rather  unwillingly 
agreed  to  the  Hadji's  valuation.  As  he'd  really  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  transaction,  the  magistrate  discharged 
him,  but,  at  the  shopkeeper's  request,  held  the  Hadji. 

The  whole  affair  was  so  entirely  the  sort  of  thing  which 
the  Port  Sai'd  man  had  seen  happen  a  dozen  times  in 
various  cities  that  he  had  no  suspicion  of  its  being  a 
"plant" — and  returned  next  day  with  the  Lascar  Mual- 
lim  of  the  Shanklin  Hall,  who  testified  to  the  Hadji's 
being  a  very  just  and  holy  man,  ignorant  of  Angrezi 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  79 

customs.  The  magistrate  informed  them  that  he  had 
been  about  to  dismiss  the  prisoner  with  a  reprimand  when 
a  Scotland  Yard  officer  had  detained  him  on  suspicion  of 
being  a  German  spy,  and  taken  him  away  for  examination. 
If  no  evidence  was  found  against  him,  he  would  be  un- 
doubtedly set  at  liberty  and  returned  to  the  Bengali's 
lodging-house  within  a  day  or  two. 

Meanwhile  the  Hadji  had  been  taken  away  in  a  closed 
motor- van — which,  after  many  twistings  to  baffle  those  who 
might  have  followed  it,  set  him  down  at  a  small  dwelling 
in  Park  Street.  When  he  emerged  from  the  van,  he  was 
in  an  English  morning  suit,  with  a  Fedora  hat — and  carry- 
ing a  russet-leather  Gladstone  bag.  Inside  the  house,  he 
proceeded  to  a  dressing  room  on  the  second  floor  with  the 
manner  of  one  thoroughly  at  home — changed  into  a  suit  of 
better  quality,  trimmed  and  brushed  his  beard  to  a  shape 
nearer  the  Van  Dyck,  and  then  descended  to  a  rear  room, 
in  the  wainscoting  of 'which  there  was  a  concealed  panel  giv- 
ing access  to  a  subterranean  tunnel  which  ran  back  under  the 
grounds  of  a  handsome  Jacobean  mansion  that  faced  Park 
Lane.  At  the  end  of  the  tunnel  he  ascended  a  long  flight  of 
steps,  glanced  through  a  peep-hole,  pressed  a  button  which 
actuated  an  electric  buzzer  somewhere,  and  then  touched  a 
spring  which  swung  back  a  section  of  bookcasing  in  a 
spacious  library. 

As  the  casing  swung  back  into  place  with  a  slight  click, 
he  saw  that  the  room  was  empty — but  he  had  scarcely 
walked  across  it  when  Lord  Trevor  of  Dartmoor  came  in 
from  the  hall  and  closed  the  door  behind  him. 

"Gad,  Abdool!  I  fawncied  I  heard  the  buzzer!  We'd 
been  fearin'  something  must  have  happened!  Nan  will 


80  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

be  down  in  a  few  moments.  My  word,  old  chap,  I've 
not  seen  you  lookin'  like  that  since  the  old  days  in  Madras 
an'  Afghanistan!  I'll  wager  you  passed  for  a  Mesopo- 
tamian  with  no  diffic'lty !  Sit  down  an'  give  us  the  story ! " 

For  several  years,  His  Lordship  had  cultivated  the  pose 
of  a  sport-loving  peer  with  no  head  for  politics — and  some 
of  his  mannerisms  were  well-known  features  of  a  world- 
famous  personality. 

"I  will  try  to  avoid  the  vernacular,  O  friend  of  my 
father's  son — for  brevity's  sake.  The  situation  in  Turkey, 
just  now,  is  about  Kke  this:  Enver  Bey  appears  to  be 
steadily  losing  influence.  There  is  a  widespread  hope  of 
getting  back  to  the  Old  Turk  regime — concluding  a  peace 
with  Russia  and  the  Entente  before  Turkey  becomes  com- 
pletely dismembered.  They  hope  to  save  Stamboul — 
and  might  make  almost  any  concession  to  do  so.  Prob- 
ably that  will  be  out  of  the  question  when  the  peace 
terms  are  discussed,  but  we  might  concede  them  Brousa 
and  Smyrna.  On  the  other  hand,  Germany  promises 
them  not  only  Stamboul  but  slices  of  Albania — Serbia 
— the  whole  of  Georgia.  If  Germany  is  able  to  convince 
them  that  she  is  winning  the  war,  their  fears  may  in- 
duce them  to  go  on  with  the  fighting  until  they  are  de- 
feated beyond  hope  of  recovery,  but  if  we  can  manage  to 
exert  influence  in  various  quarters  now,  it  may  result  in  a 
coup  by  which  Turkey  will  be  eliminated  as  an  adversary. 
The  feeling  against  Teutonic  rule  is  strengthening — 
whether  it  breaks  out  in  immediate  rebellion  or  not.  I've 
talked  with  people  of  every  class;  they  feel  that  Turkey  was 
drawn  into  this  war  against  her  will  and  that  the  final 
result  will  be  disastrous  for  her.  But  the  unfortunate 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  81 

feature  of  the  situation,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  is  the 
lack  of  leadership  for  anything  like  organized  revolution." 

"And  yet — there  are  men  in  Turkey  who  are  fully 
capable  of  handling  anything  of  the  sort  at  forty-eight 
hours'  notice." 

"Prince  Suleiman,  for  example?  Hairi  Bey?  Prince 
Said  Halim?" 

"Said  Halim  is  a  prince  of  Egypt;  any  Englishman  in 
Cairo  would  tell  you  he  was  the  chief  instrument  of  Abbas 
in  trying  to  stir  up  an  Egyptian  jihad  against  us.  But 
I've  had  a  number  of  confidential  talks  with  Halim;  he 
has  a  broader  knowledge  of  European  politics  and  more 
common  sense  than  the  majority  of  his  countrymen.  For 
instance,  he  knows  the  English  have  never  interfered 
with  the  Mohammedan  religion — on  the  contrary,  have 
safeguarded  its  observance  in  Egypt,  India,  and  Persia. 
He  knows  that  his  country  has  enjoyed  greater  pros- 
perity under  our  supervision  than  it  ever  knew  before. 
On  the  other  hand,  he's  been  getting  a  daily  object-lesson 
of  the  autocratic  rule  Germany  will  impose  upon  Islam 
if  she  gets  control  of  Turkey.  Between  two  evils,  he  has 
the  sense  to  choose  the  lesser.  Neither  Abbas  nor  any 
other  Egyptian  prince  will  ever  govern  Egypt  as  advan- 
tageously for  his  own  people  as  we  have  done,  in  spite  of 
our  mistakes  there.  Until  the  Turkish  Empire  became 
infested  with  German  secret  agents,  the  Osmanli  rec- 
ognized the  fact  that  it  was  only  British  and  French  in- 
fluence which  permitted  their  unmolested  occupation  of 
the  Bosphorus  and  the  Dardanelles.  Hairi  Bey  has  been 
Minister  of  Pious  Foundations — a  strong  believer  in  the 
old  regime.  He  is  in  position  to  command  a  very  large 


82  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

following  throughout  the  Empire  if  he  can  escape  assassi- 
nation long  enough  to  get  a  revolution  fairly  started.  As 
for  Prince  Suleiman,  he  is  a  man  fifty-six  years  old — 
experienced  in  political  intrigue,  fairly  popular,  a  possible 
heir  to  the  throne — but  more  valuable  for  his  backing 
than  for  leadership.  I've  in  mind  two  other  men  you've 
not  mentioned,  who  might  jump  into  the  limelight  at  a 
psychological  moment.  But  the  great  trouble  in  Turkey, 
just  now,  is  to  know  who  may  be  trusted!  When  you 
complicate  Oriental  intrigue  with  German  propaganda, 
one  scarcely  dares  trust  his  own  eyes  or  hands. 

"If  we  could  only  bring  about  sDme  incident  or  coup 
which  would  galvanize  every  Mohammedan  in  the  Em- 
pire— unite  all  Mussulmans  in  one  great  wave  of  religious 
frenzy ?" 

"By  Jove,  Abdool!  Do  you  know,  that  was  exactly 
what  was  runnin'  through  my  mind!  An*  the  thing  was 
beginnin'  to  assume  substance!  You've  been  in  Stam- 
boul  within  the  month — haven't  you?  Er — quite  so! 
The  city's  a  perfect  inferno  of  rioting,  assassination  an' 
intrigue,  of  course — mosques  in  use  as  hospitals,  dead 
men  in  every  street — women  an'  children,  too.  Well, 
in  all  that  mess,  did  you  get  a  glimpse  of  old  Mussa 
Hazikem?  was  he  goin'  about  in  the  streets  an'  mosques?" 

"You  mean — the  Sheik-ul-Islam?" 

"That's  the  man!  The  supreme  head  of  Moham- 
medanism in  Turkey  an'  Egypt!" 

"Aie!  Thou  art  gifted  with  the  wisdom  of  Nagy 
0  Thalcur  Bahadur!  He  has  visited  all  the  mosques, 
ordered  special  readings  of  the  Koran  for  the  wounded, 
organized  a  corps  of  hospital  assistants  from  the  Ulema. 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  83 

He  is  personally  loved  as  far  as  Bassora  and  Erzeroum. 
The  Germans  hate  him  for  the  influence  which  they  run 
up  against  at  every  turn — and  can't  handle.  If  they 
dared,  they'd  have  him  accidentally  killed  in  the  streets, 
but  they've  sense  enough  to  know  what  that  would  mean 
to  German  influence  in  Turkey.  You  see,  the  man  stands 
for  practically  everything  which  is  opposed  to  German 
ideas  of  system  and  efficiency.  As  long  as  one  of  the 
Faithful  is  regular  in  his  religious  observances,  the  Sheik 
is  quite  willing  that  he  should  squat  himself  under  a  cy- 
press on  the  bank  of  the  Bosphorus  and  'go  into  the  si- 
lence '  for  as  long  as  he  damn  pleases.  That's  up  to  him — 
that's  the  good  old  Oriental  temperament  which  the  Sheik 
would  like  to  see  preserved  for  another  thousand  years. 
Let  the  man  work  when  it  suits  him,  according  to  his  needs 
-and  worship  Allah  as  the  Koran  prescribes.  But  to 
the  German  idea,  all  that  represents  an  economic  waste. 
Each  man  should  be  a  cog  in  the  national  machine — his 
actions,  work,  manner  of  living,  all  portioned  out  by  the 
wiser  'man  higher  up' — the  governing  caste.  Our  'blood- 
brother'  hath  said: 

"East  is  East— and  West  is  West: 
And  never  the  twain  shall  meet. 

"What  thou  hast  in  mind,  then,  O  Protector  of  the 
Poor,  is  something  which  concerns  this  holy  man  in 
Stamboul?" 

"Aye.  If  it  could  be  pulled  off,  it  would  undoubtedly 
have  a  most  far-reachin'  effect.  But — d'ye  see — it'll  be 
practically  suicide  to  attempt  it!  It's  possible — aye " 


84  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Just  then  the  door  opened,  and  Lady  Nan  came  in — 
with  outstretched  hands. 

"Abdool — we  feared  something  had  happened!  Ray- 
mond Carter  had  word  from  the  American  Em- 
bassy in  Stamboul  that  a  certain  Mohammedan, 
whom  we  knew  must  be  you,  had  been  talking  revo- 
lution in  different  parts  of  the  Empire  until  the  Ger- 
mans were  searching  for  him  everywhere — and  that  they 
had  finally  hanged  him.  That  was  over  a  month  ago! 
How  did  you  escape?  Where  have  you  been  since  then?  " 

"Making  my  way  down  the  Aleppo-Medina  Railway 
until  I  could  strike  across  on  a  camel  to  Jidda,  and  a  little 
coaster  to  Aden — then  coming  up  on  the  Shanklin  Hall  in 
the  Oriental  steerage." 

"But  why  did  you  waste  tune  doing  that,  when  every 
hour  was  valuable  and  you  knew  we  must  be  anxious  about 
you?" 

"For  excellent  cause,  0  Chota  Ranee.  First,  there  was 
need  of  talking  revolution  in  Syria.  Then  I  had  word  that 
a  Wilhelmstrasse  man — born  in  Bagdad  and  speaking 
Arabic  as  his  mother  tongue — was  bringing  messages 
from  revolutionists  in  the  Soudan  to  German  spies  in 
London.  Also  that  he  would  take  certain  of  our  plans  and 
secrets  back  to  Berlin  when  he  escaped  as  he  came.  I 
went  aboard  the  Shanklin  Hall  at  Aden — he  at  Port  Said. 
He  believes  me  to  be  of  Wilhelmstrasse  in  an  even 
higher  capacity.  We  went  to  an  Oriental  lodging-house 
kept  by  a  Bengali,  in  Bromley — and,  the  other  night,  had  a 
long  conference  with  a  nest  of  German  spies  in  Bethnal 
Green.  Had  I  abandoned  my  disguise  in  Egypt  and  come 
up  by  rail  from  Marseilles,  it  would  have  been  practically 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  85 

impossible  to  locate  that  rendezvous.  Furthermore,  it 
seems  to  me  advisable  that  one  or  two  of  us  should  return 
to  Constantinople  at  once.  There  is  a  chance  for  a  diplo- 
matic coup  just  now  which  might  influence  the  whole 
Eastern  situation.  By  going  back  the  way  I  came,  we 
would  be  received  anywhere  in  Turkey  without  sus- 
picion." 

A  little  shiver  of  apprehension  ran  through  Her  Lady- 
ship. "Whom  would  you  suggest  to  accompany  you, 
Abdool?" 

"Whoever  is  best  fitted  to  do  the  work!  If  I  can  go 
back  with  just  one  man  who  speaks  Arabic  and  Urdu 
fluently,  with  a  few  Turkish  phrases  for  emergencies — 
one  who,  with  a  little  darkening  of  his  skin,  might  pass  for 
Arab  or  Mesopotamian  Turk — I  think  the  chances  are 
something  more  than  even  for  work  that  will  eliminate 
Turkey  from  the  war  and  open  the  Dardanelles  for  supply- 
ships  to  Russia.  'Lammerford  Sahib'  could  do  it  with 
very  little  risk  of  detection — but  he  is  in  Petrograd  and 
can't  be  spared  from  there." 

His  Lordship  crossed  from  where  he  was  standing  by  the 
big  fireplace  and  sat  down  on  the  arm  of  Lady  Nan's 
chair — drawing  her  close  against  him  for  a  moment: 

"I  fancy  it's  up  to  me,  Nan,"  he  said.  "There  are  a 
few  Downing  Street  men  who  speak  Arabic,  but  they  lack 
my  knowledge  of  the  whole  situation  an'  might  get  their 
throats  cut  inside  of  a  week,  not  knowin'  just  where 
they'd  blundered.  It's  a  risk,  of  course — but  you  your- 
self are  still  impersonating  the  Condesa  de  la  Montaneta 
here  in  London,  thick  as  thieves  with  agents  of  Wil- 
helmstrasse  every  day.  I've  been  dreadin',  freq'ntly, 


86  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

that  someone  would  kill  you  with  cyanide  or  a  knife! 
There's  no  sense  wastin'  our  breath  in  argum'nt — we've 
our  duty  to  do,  like  the  men  in  the  trenches — and  all  three 
of  us  know  it.  So  we'll  just  go  on  with  the  day's  work  an' 
hope  to  pull  through  alive,  for  better  times!  Abdool,  I 
fawncy  we'll  get  to  work  more  quickly,  and  avoid  a  good 
many  of  the  fleas,  if  we  run  down  to  Beirut  on  the  yacht 
an' have  'em  put  us  ashore  from  a  dinghy  some  dark  night ! " 

"Aye,  Huzoor,  but  we  are  then  compelled  to  make  ex- 
planations to  the  first  men  we  meet — explanations  which 
may  not  be  accepted.  I  love  the  fleas  and  other  creatures 
of  Allah  as  little  as  thou,  O  friend  of  my  youth,  because  it 
hath  come  to  pass  that  I  am  even  as  the  Angrezi  in  my 
washings  and  my  cleanliness,  now  that  I  have  wealth  and 
honors.  Yet  behold,  Huzoor — if  we  go  steerage  in  some 
little  steamer  to  Piraeus,  and  from  there  in  a  Greek  boat 
to  one  of  the  smaller  Turkish  ports,  we  shall  be  passed  on 
from  one  crew  to  another  as  men  who  are  what  they  claim 
to  be — Hadjis,  both;  for  thou  also  didst  go  with  the  Holy 
Carpet  from  Cairo,  upon  occasion.  Thou  hast  touched 
the  veil  of  the  jKaa&a,and  may  speak  knowingly  of  the  holy 
Serai  at  Mecca — of  matters  which  be  seen  there  and  done." 

There  was  a  moment  or  so  of  silence,  as  His  Lordship 
weighed  the  possibilities. 

"H-m-m — your  way  has  its  advantages,  Abdool. 
If  I  can  pass  successfully  as  one  of  the  Osmanli,  it  reduces 
the  danger  from  German  officers  and  secret  agents  to  a 
minimum.  If  I  go  in  from  a  Greek  port  as  an 
American,  I'll  be  constantly  watched — no  question  as  to 
that.  On  the  other  hand,  it'll  be  diffic'lt  to  carry  out  what 
I've  in  mind  without  German  uniforms  an'  make-up. 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  87 

Still — Freddy  Goldthwaite  is  on  the  ground.  He  should 
be  able  to  find  whatever  clothes  we  need " 

"I  regret  to  say  Captain  Goldthwaite  is  lying  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Bosphorus.  He  shot  a  Pasha  who  was  trying 
to  abduct  a  girl  from  the  American  College — got  her  safely 
into  the  American  Embassy.  Afterward,  they  caught 
him — and  cut  his  throat." 

"My  word!  Poor  old  Freddy!  I'm  dev'lish  sorry  to 
hear  that,  Abdool!  Whom  else  have  we  in  Stamboul, 
just  now?  There's  Cramer,  I  hope?  Though  we've  had 
no  word  from  him  in  five  weeks!  An'  Tom  Devereux — 
Lef tenant  Archer — Sir  Harry  Bond — eh?" 

"I  fear  that  Archer  Sahib  was  killed  in  Galata  during 
some  of  the  street-rioting.  He  was  disguised,  but  Deve- 
reux recognized  his  body  and  buried  it.  The  others  were 
alive  and  working  when  I  left.  Also  there  were  three 
young  attaches  from  the  Embassy  who  remained  in  dis- 
guise after  it  was  closed.  They  had  shown  much  ability 
in  the  Madrid  and  Vienna  embassies  before  they 
were  sent  to  Stamboul.  All  speak  Turkish  very  well. 
I  think  we  may  count  upon  what  assistance  we  need. 
H-m-m — would  it  not  be  well  for  me  to  present  you  at 
that  Bethnal  Green  rendezvous,  as  a  Bulgarian  secret 
agent  entrusted  with  information  for  the  German  and 
Turkish  commanders  in  Constantinople?  I  gave  strict 
orders  that  no  raid  was  to  be  made  upon  the  place  until 
I  said  so — that  we  might  bag  four  other  men,  and  a  num- 
ber of  plans  stolen  from  us.  The  crowd,  there,  will  un- 
doubtedly give  us  memoranda  on  tissue-paper  and  mes- 
sages that  will  help  us  materially  in  Turkey." 

"Aye,  that's  a  good  suggestion.    When  we've  our  plans 


88  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

all  blocked  out  an'  know  just  where  we're  to  board  our 
steamer,  I'll  have  a  hint  dropped  by  Downing  Street  to  the 
milit'ry  details  watching  the  outgoing  boats — so  that 
we'll  be  neither  detained  nor  searched." 

A  fortnight  after  this  conversation,  two  Syrian  Moham- 
medans went  ashore  from  a  Greek  felucca  at  the  little 
seaport  of  Mersina  in  Asia  Minor — from  where  they  took 
the  railway  up  to  Scutari  by  way  of  Adana  and  Konia. 
They  appeared  to  be  very  popular  with  the  Greek  captain 
and  his  mixed  Levantine  crew — some  of  whom  accom- 
panied them  to  the  nearest  wine  shop,  where  the  Moham- 
medans ordered  mastic  for  themselves,  thus  saving  their 
face  as  Hadjis  in  good  repute,  with  a  proper  reverence  for 
the  Koran.  By  underground  rumor — which  operates 
almost  as  rapidly  as  wireless — their  status,  nationality, 
and  loyalty  as  Turkish  subjects  were  known  throughout 
the  little  seaport  before  they  had  taken  their  first  meal  in 
the  serai.  They  wore  the  customary  tarbush  with  its 
black  silk  tassel — but  had  wrapped  green  turban-cloth 
around  it,  after  the  manner  of  those  who  discard  the  Ara- 
bian burnous  for  a  European  coat  but  cling  to  a  suggestion 
of  the  old  turban  as  a  matter  of  religious  prejudice. 
Such  men  are  held  in  great  respect  by  all  True  Believers 
throughout  the  Turkish  Empire;  their  mere  appearance 
being  usually  a  sufficient  passport  in  any  part  of  the 
country. 

Getting  into  a  caique  at  the  Scutari  railway  pier,  with 
their  cotton-wrapped  bundles  of  clothing  and  other  per- 
sonal effects,  they  were  rowed  across  the  mouth  of  the 
Bosphonis  to  the  Ycni  Kapou,  from  where,  shouldering 
their  bundles,  they  disappeared  in  the  maze  of  narrow, 


89 

twisting  alleys  stretching  northwest,  through  the  Ak  Serai, 
along  the  valley  formed  by  the  Lycus  brook  between  the 
main  ridge  of  old  Stamboul  and  the  hills  of  the  Silivri 
Kapou  quarter.  Most  of  the  rioting  and  pillaging  during 
the  war  had  been  in  the  European  quarter  of  Pera,  north 
of  the  Golden  Horn.  Street  brawls  and  nightly  assassina- 
tions are  common  enough  in  old  Stamboul  at  any  tune,  be- 
cause the  constant  intrigue,  the  network  of  narrow  streets, 
and  the  inviolable  secrecy  preserved  about  every  Turkish 
dwelling,  lend  themselves  to  that  sort  of  thing;  but  the 
war  had  scarcely  brought  a  perceptible  increase  of  them. 

Knocking  in  a  peculiar  manner  upon  the  door  of  a 
small  dwelling  in  an  obscure  and  winding  alley,  they  were 
received  by  a  bearded  Turk,  rather  shabbily  dressed,  who 
gravely  bowed  them  into  his  seldmlik — where  he  clapped 
his  hands  for  a  girl  who  brought  them  coffee  and  narghiles. 

"SMm  deykum,  O  Hamet  Effendi." 

"  Aleykum  seldm,  O  Agha.  A-i-e!  Thou  art  the  holy 
Abdullah  Hadji  who  honored  my  poor  house  two  months 
ago!  And  this  be  thy  friend — another  holy  one!  Sefa 
geldenl  Are  you  well,  sirs?" 

"Mashattah  I  As  God  wills.  We  are  come  a  long  way, 
O  Hamet — from  a  far  country — that  certain  matters  be 
laid  before  thee  and  others  among  the  Faithful.  If  so  be 
that  thou  hast  room  in  thy  house  for  such  as  we,  it  may 
come  to  pass  that  we  shall  remain  with  thee  for  a  week  or 
more.  It  hath  been  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted  in  other 
times;  perchance  it  may  now  serve  as  good  a  purpose." 

"My  house  is  thine,  O  Hadji  Abdulla — and  all  it  con- 
tains. Do  with  it  as  thou  wilt." 

Sir  AbdooFs  impersonation  of  a  Turk  from  a  southern 


90  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

province  was,  of  course,  perfect — because  he  was  Afghan- 
born,  and  spoke  several  of  the  Oriental  dialects  fluently. 
But  Lord  Trevor's  appearance  of  genuineness  was  a 
masterpiece  of  acting.  His  Turkish  was  not  extensive 
enough  to  risk  a  conversation  in  that  language,  but  his 
pronunciation  of  what  he  did  know  was  perfect,  from  his 
knowledge  of  Arabic — and  his  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
several  years  before,  had  taught  him  little  mannerisms 
— Mohammedan  customs — which  vouched  for  him  better 
than  any  statements  that  could  be  made.  It  may  be 
doubted  by  the  reader  whether  an  Englishman  or  an 
American  could  successfully  impersonate  an  Oriental, 
among  Orientals.  But  a  number  of  well-known  instances 
establish  the  fact.  Captain  Burton — whose  translation 
of  the  Arabian  Nights  is  the  best  extant — made  the  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca  without  being  once  suspected.  Lord 
Kitchener,  long  before  the  Khartoum  campaign,  passed 
among  the  Soudanese  and  other  natives  as  one  of  them- 
selves. Several  men  connected  with  the  Indian  Secret 
Service  and  British  Foreign  Office  have  gone  among  the 
natives  time  after  time  without  discovery. 

After  a  light  meal  the  two  went  to  another  house  in  the 
Yeni  Kapou  quarter,  occasionally  used  as  a  rendezvous 
by  the  English  secret  agents  and — partly  through  excep- 
tional luck,  partly  because  of  the  extreme  care  taken  in 
approaching  it — never  suspected  to  be  other  than  the 
private  residence  of  a  wealthy  and  influential  Osmanli. 
Here  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  the  Honorable 
Tommy  Devereux,  Sir  Harry  Bond,  Lieutenant  Hedges, 
and  Captain  Sir  Philip  Leicester,  in  various  disguises — 
the  last  two  having  been  attaches  at  the  British  Embassy 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  91 

before  the  war.  Without  revealing  His  Lordship's 
identity,  Sir  Abdool  introduced  him  as  the  most 
famous  man  in  the  underwor'd  of  diplomacy — which 
they  took  as  a  hint  that  they  were  at  last  in  the  presence 
of  the  celebrated  Diplomatic  Free  Lance,  whose  marvel- 
ous coups  had  been  for  years  the  wonder  of  every  chan- 
cellery in  Europe.  This  belief  was  at  once  apparent  in  the 
deference  with  which  they  urged  him  to  make  use  of  them 
in  any  way  he  considered  advisable. 

"Gentlemen,  I  appreciate  this — thoroughly.  I'll  take 
you  at  your  word — partly  because  I  want  to  prove  that 
appreciation,  but  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  what  I  have 
in  mind  cannot  be  carried  out  with  Mohammedan 
assistance.  Even  if  they  believed  that  no  harm  was  in- 
tended, no  followers  of  the  Prophet  would  take  the  risk 
of  injuring  the  most  holy  man  in  the  Moslem  world  to- 
day. Because  we're  likely  enough  to  be  killed  in  pulling 
off  this  bit,  I'd  hesitate  about  asking  your  assistance  if 
you  hadn't  offered  it.  But — if  we  are  successful,  it  may 
bring  about  a  revolution  that  will  eliminate  Turkey  as  a 
German  ally." 

"My  word,  old  chap!  That's  what  we're  here  for! 
Let's  have  a  go  at  it,  whether  we  succeed  hi  pullin'  it  off 
or  not!  What's  the  idea?" 

"We'll  get  to  that,  step  by  step — so  you'll  have  an 
impression  of  the  machinery  and  the  probable  effect. 
First  we  must  have  some  house  in  a  secluded  quarter  of 
old  Stamboul — some  house  which  is  occupied  by  a  prom- 
inent German  officer,  but  in  which  there  are  rooms  that 
he  doesn't  use.  Who  knows  of  such  a  man — and  such  a 
house?  " 


92  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence — presently  broken  by 
Devereux,  with  a  sharp  exclamation: 

"By  Jove!  I  know  of  one  such  place — but  I  don't 

see Wait  a  bit — till  I  describe  it!  Colonel  von 

Holtzen,  who  is  now  one  of  the  Staff  in  command  of  the 
city,  was  quite  thick  with  old  Kara  Pasha  just  before  the 
war  started — used  him  to  spread  German  influence  among 
the  *  Young  Turk '  party.  They  were  chummy  for  a  year 
or  more.  Kara  had  been  getting  poorer  for  some  time — 
bought  shares  on  the  Paris  bourse  which  proved  a  total 
loss.  So,  for  his  influence,  Von  Holtzen  lent  him  money 
on  his  house  over  in  the  Psamatia  quarter  until  it  was 
mortgaged  for  more  than  it  was  worth — then  gave  him  a 
good  bit  more  for  services  rendered.  Von  Holtzen  spent 
the  night  with  him  frequently — used  to  bring  German 
officers  and  secret  agents  there  for  conferences — made 
himself  quite  at  home.  Just  after  the  first  attempt  to 
force  the  Dardanelles,  old  Kara  went  down  to  the  forts  on 
a  commissary  matter — and  was  killed  by  a  fragment  of 
shell  from  one  of  our  ships.  Von  Holtzen  wound  up  his 
estate — found  the  old  Pasha  had  been  saving  the  money 
advanced  him  until  he  had  over  four  thousand  pounds, 
Turkish,  in  the  bank. 

"There  were  three  sons  in  the  harim.  The  Colonel 
paid  over  the  money  to  them  on  the  supposition  that  they 
would  look  after  their  own  mothers  and  possibly  some  of 
the  other  women.  Then  he  cleaned  'em  ail  out  of  the 
house,  which  he  took  over  to  satisfy  his  mortgage.  Von 
Holtzen  is  by  way  of  bein'  a  woman-hater.  At  all  events, 
he  never  trusts  one  or  has  her  near  enough  to  learn  any  of 
his  business,  so  the  rooms  of  the  harim  have  been  un- 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  93 

occupied,  and  the  entrance  from  the  seldmlik  locked, 
ever  since  he  took  over  the  building.  Now — his  orderlies, 
most  assuredly,  would  never  enter  those  rooms  unless  he 
told  them  to,  and  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  their  exis- 
tence— doesn't  need  them ' 

"How  do  you  know  that,  Devereux?" 

"I  got  in  through  the  garden  at  the  back,  and  prowled 
about  the  house  for  whatever  information  I  could  find 
— went  through  every  room  of  the  harim — slept  there 
one  night." 

"Humph!  You  were  safe  enough  from  Mohammedan 
intrusion — if  the  rooms  were  unoccupied!  But  you  were 
playing  with  death  every  minute!  Suppose  Von  Holtzen 
had  taken  a  notion  to  inspect  them?" 

"  Er — quite  so.  That's  all  in  the  game,  don't  you  know. 
At  all  events,  it  occurs  to  me  that  since  he  has  lived  there, 
he  seems  to  prefer  holding  most  of  his  conferences  with 
the  milit'ry  crowd  over  in  Pera — which  frequently  leaves 
the  house  in  charge  of  an  orderly  and  a  couple  of  old 
Turkish  servants,  because  his  Tcavass  and  his  adjutant 
usually  accompany  him." 

"  Is  there  any  communication  between  that  garden  and 
the  harim?" 

"Aye — the  old  sleeping  room  of  the  eunuch  has  a  door 
opening  directly  into  the  garden — and  another  into  the  rear 
hall  of  the  harim.  The  path  from  that  door  to  the  gate 
runs  just  inside  the  high  brick  wall  between  two  eight- 
foot  hedges.  The  house  is  considerably  over  a  hundred 
years  old;  you  can  imagine  what  that  rear  entrance  may 
have  been  used  for,  occasionally,  with  the  Psamatia  Kapou 
and  the  Marmora  beach  less  than  six  hundred  yards  away!" 


94  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"H-m-m — with  any  sort  of  luck,  I'd  say  nothing 
could  better  serve  our  purpose!  We'd  not  have  much 
trouble  in  forcing  the  locks  of  those  doors — from  the 
garden?" 

"None  at  all!  I  fetched  the  keys  along  with  me — 
thinking  that  harim  might  be  a  fairly  good  place  in 
which  to  lie  up,  in  case  the  Germans  or  Enver  Pasha's 
men  got  to  combing  the  city  for  any  of  us." 

"By  Jove!  I'm  beginning  to  fancy  we  may  have  some- 
thing better  than  even  chances,  after  all!  You  certainly 
kept  your  wits  about  you,  Devereux.  Very  good !  Let's 
get  on  to  the  next  point !  Who  knows  anything  about  the 
usual  daily  movements  of  Mussa  Hazikem,  the  Sheik- 
ul-Islam?" 

Sir  Harry  Bond  started  to  speak — then  hesitated. 

"Go  on,  Sir  Harry!    Tell  us  anything  you  can!" 

"Why,  d'ye  see — I  know  what  the  old  chap  has  been 
doin'  right  along  for  a  month  past,  but  there'll  be  no 
sayin'  he'll  keep  it  up  indefinitely.  Parts  of  Santa  Sofia, 
the  Achmet  an*  the  Bajazid  mosques,  have  been  turned 
into  hospitals,  d'ye  see — the  katib  reads  the  noon  prayer 
to  the  wounded  an'  dyin'  every  day  from  the  minber. 
And  at  night,  when  the  grease-lamps  are  lighted,  the  Sheik 
himself  comes  into  one  or  another  of  the  mosques  to  see 
how  the  patients  are  gettin'  along — whether  his  pet 
Ulema  corps  are  carryin'  out  his  instructions.  Before 
leavin',  he  mounts  the  steps  of  the  minber  an*  repeats  a 
verse  of  the  Koran.  Awfully  decent  old  chap,  Mussa! 
An'  I  have  it  rather  straight  that  he  prays  to  Allah  every 
noon  for  the  overthrow  of  the  'Young  Turks'  and  the 
Germans.  He's  a  bit  conservative — Mussa  is!  Knows 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  95 

deuced  well  that  if  German  efficiency  ever  takes  root  in 
Turkey,  it'll  be  good-bye  to  the  Faith — sooner  or  later. 
We've  been  sowin'  our  bit  of  trouble  for  the  kaiser,  down 
here,  by  pointin'  out  how  absolutely  the  English  Raj 
avoids  the  least  meddling  with  any  of  the  native  beliefs 
in  India  or  Egypt.  The  Osmanli  know  that — every 
blessed  one  of  'em!  An'  they're  beginnin'  to  draw  com- 
parisons between  the  two  sorts  of  government. 

"However — gettin'  back  to  old  Mussa.  To-morrow'll 
be  Friday — with  the  Mohammedan  Sunday  prayers  in  all 
the  mosques.  I  happened  to  notice  they  were  doin*  a  lot 
of  sprucin'  up  at  the  little  Daoud  Pasha  Mosque,  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  here — an'  nosed  about  to  see  what  was  up. 
Seems  there's  to  be  a  private  conference — several  big  men 
of  the  Ulema.  Now — say  the  Sheik  is  at  the  Bajazid 
Mosque  between  eight  an'  nine  in  the  evening,  when  I'm 
quite  sure  they  expect  him?  He'll  drive  from  there  to 
Daoud  Pasha  in  his  brougham — along  the  tramway  streets 
to  the  Rue  Hasseki.  In  this  part  of  the  town,  there  are 
no  electric  lights  except  along  some  of  the  main  streets. 
Of  course,  I  can  only  conjecture  what  you'll  be  up  to,  old 
chap — but  if  it's  anything  in  the  line  of  temp'r'ry  abduc- 
tion, as  I  rather  imagine,  you'll  scarcely  have  a  better 
opportunity  than  you'll  get  to-morrow  night.  Mussa  is 
so  well  known,  an'  considers  himself  so  inviolable,  that  he 
never  even  takes  a  kavass  about  with  him." 

"Hmph!  Seems  as  if  everything  was  playing  into  our 
hands !  But  I  fancy  it's  because  nobody  has  ever  dreamed 
of  pulling  off  such  a  thing — anyone  caught  in  the  act  of 
doing  it  would  be  literally  torn  to  pieces !  Nice  prospect, 
if  we  happen  to  slip  up !  However,  I  see  but  one  possible 


96  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

stumbling-block  in  our  attempting  it.  Abdool — will  you 
give  us  your  opinion,  frankly?  Is  it  your  belief  that  if 
the  Sheik-ul-Islam  could  see  how  thoroughly  it  might 
swing  the  whole  country  away  from  the  Germans  and 
'Young  Turks,'  he  might  willingly  submit  to  personal 
violence  and  insult — for  a  few  hours?  Or,  put  it  another 
way — to  get  the  proper  effect,  he  must  know  nothing  of 
the  reasons  behind  it  until  afterward — if  ever.  Do  you 
think  he  would  then  forgive  those  who  had  a  hand  in  it, 
and  bear  them  no  ill  will?" 

Sir  Abdool  reflected — his  mind  ranging  over  fanati- 
cism in  other  countries  beyond  Turkey. 

"Huzoor,  I  have  spoken  to  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  as  a  poor 
Hadji  may  speak  to  the  supreme  head  of  his  faith  in  this 
world.  And,  even  so,  I  have  found  him  courteous  to  one 
so  far  beneath  him  in  holiness  and  worth.  He  has  great 
breadth  of  mind.  He  sees  nothing  but  disaster  for  the 
Faith — for  the  Padishah — for  Turkey — in  this  war.  It  is 
conceivable  that,  proud  man  as  he  is,  he  would  submit  to 
personal  indignity — even  temporary  suffering — if  by  so 
doing  he  could  better  the  condition  of  all  True  Believers. 
As  to  how  he  might  deal  afterward  with  those  who  so  used 
him,  that  would  be  as  Allah  decreed.  Yet  I  think  he 
would  forgive — knowing  what  they  sought  to  bring  about. 
The  man  is  too  shrewd  a  politician  not  to  see  the  probable 
effect  of  what  we  may  do. " 

"M-w-e-1-1 — that's  about  my  impression  of  him. 
Now  comes  another  question:  would  you,  as  a  True  Be- 
liever, have  any  scruples  against  making  this  attempt? 
Would  you  be  willing  to  assist  us?  If  I'm  thinking  of  com- 
mitting a  sacrilege  for  which  there  can  be  no  »ossible  ex- 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  g? 

cuse  in  Mohammedan  eyes,  were  the  true  facts  known, 
we'd  best  not  attempt  it!" 

"Nay,  Huzoor — I  dared  let  myself  dream,  even  in  Lon- 
don, what  it  was  that  lay  in  thy  mind.  We,  of  Hind,  be 
not  as  those  who  slumber  even  as  they  walk  about.  I 
will  do  as  you  command  me.  For  against  the  man  who 
knoweth  that  he  intends  no  evil — who  doeth  a  little  evil 
that  great  good  may  come — no  evil  may  be  charged.  But 
if  we  would  prove  ourselves  like  Nag  in  our  wisdom,  we 
will  permit  no  other  follower  of  the  Prophet  to  know  what 
it  is  we  mean  to  do — or  learn  of  it  afterward.  For  myself 
I  have  lived  many  years  with  the  Angrezi — I  see  even  as 
they  see,  upon  certain  matters." 

"Thank  you,  old  chap!  That  removes  the  last  scruple 
I  had  about  going  into  this.  There  are  six  of  us  here — • 
which  should  be  enough  for  the  job.  Sir  Harry,  I'll 
depend  upon  you  to  find  out  precisely  what  the  Sheik's 
movements  are  likely  to  be  to-morrow  night.  Devereux, 
here  is  a  memorandum  of  some  things  I  want  smuggled  in- 
to that  harim  just  after  dark — an'  you're  to  find  out  what 
Von  Holtzen  will  be  doing  to-morrow!  If  necessary,  we 
must  send  a  fake  telephone  message  that'll  take  him  out 
of  the  house  for  a  couple  of  hours — but  we'll  hope  he  has 
some  conference  to  attend  in  Pera.  The  rest  of  you  gen- 
tlemen must  get  some  German  uniforms  that  will  fit  us; 
we'll  take  the  measurements  now.  Particularly,  we'll 
need  the  long  gray-green  military  capes — with  an  extra 
one  to  wrap  about  the  Sheik. 

"  Abdool,  will  you  get  in  touch  with  the  Chief  Hamal — 
head  of  the  Hamal  Guild?  Hint  to  him  that  some  great 
outrage  is  likely  to  be  committed  by  the  Germans  within 


98  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

a  few  days — ask  how  many  men  he  can  get  together  from 
his  own  and  the  other  guilds,  at  an  hour's  notice.  Unless 
conditions  have  changed  very  much  within  the  past  five 
months,  you'll  find  him  even  willing  to  stir  up  a  small  revo- 
lution if  he's  sure  of  reasonable  backing.  The  hamals 
(public  porters)  and  firemen  of  the  various  quarters  have 
started  most  of  the  street  rioting  since  last  August,  I'm 
told.  Keep  his  mind  as  far  away  from  our  real  proposition 
as  you  can!  If  he  once  suspected  that,  we  probably 
wouldn't  live  five  minutes  after  we  laid  hands  on  the 
Sheik." 

The  next  morning  broke  with  a  flurry  of  snow  and  a 
chilly  wind  down  the  Bosphorus  from  the  Black  Sea. 
"With  the  approach  of  spring,  the  water  in  the  Sea  of  Mar- 
mora had  begun  to  warm  up  a  little,  each  noon — conse- 
quently, the  effect  of  this  cold  draught  upon  it  from  the 
north  was  a  fog  which  settled  down  upon  the  surrounding 
hills  and  seemed  to  grow  thicker  toward  night.  In  the 
narrow  streets  of  old  Stamboul  fog  is  the  last  straw  in  the 
way  of  confusing  the  senses  of  those  who  attempt  to  navi- 
gate them — particularly  at  night.  And  this  proved  an- 
other favoring  element  in  an  enterprise  which,  in  cold 
blood,  appeared  little  short  of  suicidal. 

Various  persons  had  offered  to  present  the  Sheik-ul- 
Islam  with  a  motor  car  after  such  things  in  the  line  of  trans- 
portation became  practical,  but  he  had  steadily  refused  to 
accept  one.  It  savored  too  much  of  those  modern  ideas 
which  he  felt  to  be  undermining  the  Moslem  faith.  So  he 
drove  about  the  city  and  suburbs  in  a  rather  shabby 
brougham  drawn  by  two  excellent  horses.  In  broad  day- 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  99 

light  this  equipage  was  recognized  by  everyone.  At 
night  it  bore  a  similarity  to  other  vehicles  which  made  it 
less  easily  picked  out.  In  a  fog  it  might  have  been  any 
one  of  a  hundred  broughams.  So,  to  lessen  the  chance  of 
making  a  mistake  and  losing  an  opportunity  which  might 
not  occur  again  for  months,  Sir  Abdool  was  in  the  Sultan 
Bajazid  Mosque  at  seven  o'clock — waiting  there  until  the 
Sheik  arrived,  about  eight. 

When  his  brougham  drove  away,  down  the  Rue  Koska, 
following  the  tracks  of  the  electric  tramway,  Sir  Abdool 
was  swinging  underneath,  hanging  on  to  the  axles.  Just 
beyond  the  little  mosque  of  Mourad  Pasha  the  coach- 
man turned  into  the  narrower  Rue  Hasseki  and  Rue 
Daoud  Pasha.  After  passing  the  Hasseki  Mosque,  a  shrill 
cry  appeared  to  come  from  the  pavement  under  the  broug- 
ham— startling  the  coachman  so  much  that  he  pulled  up 
his  horses  under  the  impression  that  he  had  run  over  some- 
body. Then  five  ghostly  figures  came  running  out  of  a 
narrow  alley  in  the  fog.  While  one  held  the  horses'  heads, 
the  others  pulled  the  coachman  from  his  box — gagging 
and  binding  him.  The  door  of  the  brougham  was 
wrenched  open — the  Sheik  hauled  out  unceremoniously 
upon  the  pavement,  where  he  was  bound  and  wrapped 
in  a  long  military  cloak  which  effectually  concealed  his 
official  robes.  Leaving  the  carriage  in  the  middle  of  the 
street,  the  coachman  propped  against  the  wall  of  a  house, 
the  attacking  party — afterward  identified  as  German 
officers — marched  away  in  the  fog,  down  the  next  twist- 
ing alley,  with  the  Sheik  between  them — a  savage  whisper 
in  Arabic  warning  him  that  the  slightest  outcry  would 
promptly  bring  a  knife  between  his  ribs. 


100  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Mussa  Hazikem  was  a  man  past  middle  age  who  had 
been  unaccustomed  to  physical  exercise  for  many  years. 
The  walk  they  forced  him  to  take  was  really  less  than  half 
a  mile — yet  so  roughly  did  they  urge  him  on,  twisting  and 
turning  through  a  number  of  dark  alleys,  that  he  was  com- 
pletely exhausted  when  finally  they  reached  a  gate  in  a 
brick  wall.  There  was  a  step  against  which  he  stumbled, 
pitching  forward  upon  the  stones  and  receiving  an  ugly 
cut,  upon  his  forehead,  which  bled  profusely.  He  was  so 
nearly  "all  in"  that  they  carried  him  the  rest  of  the  way — 
gently  enough.  When  they  laid  him  upon  a  couch  in  a  cold, 
damp  room  which  had  the  appearance  of  having  been  a 
woman's  apartment  at  one  time,  his  senses  were  so  con- 
fused that  his  only  clear  impression  was  a  whispered  threat 
— that  the  slightest  outcry  from  him  during  the  next  few 
hours  would  bring  in  someone  to  cut  his  throat.  Unbind- 
ing his  arms  and  throwing  a  number  of  filthy  rugs  over  him 
to  prevent  his  freezing  to  death,  they  went  out  of  the  room, 
locking  the  door  so  quietly  that  he  barely  heard  the 
click  of  the  bolt. 

Twenty  minutes  later,  as  the  chief  of  the  Hamal  Guild 
was  drinking  mastic  with  a  number  of  fellow  hamals  in  a 
low  Turkish  cafe  near  the  Yeni  Kapou,  the  Osmanli,  Ab- 
dullah, who  had  spoken  to  him  on  the  previous  afternoon, 
came  panting  into  the  place  with  news  which  brought  every 
man  to  his  feet  with  hoarse  cries  of  rage.  The  holy  Mussa 
Hazikem — the  Skeik-ul-Islam — representative  on  earth  of 
the  Prophet  himself — had  been  outrageously  attacked  by 
German  officers  upon  the  public  street,  dragged  from  his 
own  brougham,  bound  and  gagged — hauled  off  down  a 
filthy  alley — to  be  butchered,  in  all  probability! 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  101 

The  news  spread  throughout  the  neighboring  quarters 
of  old  Stamboul  with  the  rapidity  of  prairie  fire.  A  mo- 
mentarily increasing  mob  of  fanatics  tore  through  the 
streets  with  Abdullah  and  the  chief  hamal  to  the  spot 
where  the  brougham  had  been  stopped — finding  the  coach- 
man still  propped  against  the  wall.  When  his  bonds 
had  been  loosened,  he  corroborated  Abdullah's  story  in 
every  particular — indicating  the  near-by  alley  down  which 
he  had  heard  the  footsteps  of  the  officers  hurrying  away 
with  their  holy  captive.  The  mob  surged  through  the 
alley.  At  its  further  end  another  Osmanli,  who  proved 
to  be  a  friend  of  Abdullah,  came  running  up  with  the  re- 
port that  he  had  followed  the  abductors  to  the  old  house 
of  Kara  Pasha,  now  occupied  by  Mir  Alai  von  Holtzen. 
He  said  that  with  blows  and  much  abuse  they  had  forced 
the  half -fainting  Sheik  to  enter  the  house — that  when  the 
door  had  closed  upon  them,  there  had  been  the  sound  of 
quarreling  voices  and  a  horrible  gurgling  cry,  as  if  some- 
one had  been  stabbed.  That  was  enough!  The  mob 
searched  in  the  foggy  darkness  for  something  with  which 
they  could  batter  in  the  oak  door,  and  presently  found  a 
water-logged  beam  in  a  neighboring  alley. 

Meanwhile,  as  the  Sheik  partly  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  his  rough  handling,  he  became  conscious  of  a 
slight  grating  noise  which  appeared  to  come  from  the  door. 
Expecting,  after  what  had  happened,  that  he  might  be 
assassinated  very  soon,  Mussa's  flesh  began  to  creep;  then 
it  occurred  to  him  that  someone  who  had  witnessed  the 
outrage  might  have  followed,  and  was  attempting  at  the 
risk  of  his  life  to  rescue  him.  The  stealthy  actions  of  the 
man  on  the  other  side  of  the  door  seemed  to  favor  this 


102  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

belief.  Presently  there  was  a  faint  creak  of  the  hinges — 
he  knew  the  door  was  being  cautiously  opened,  though  he 
couldn't  see  it  in  the  pitchy  blackness.  Then  came  a 
whisper: 

"Art  thou  here,  O  Holy  One?  Father  of  the  Faith- 
ful!" 

"Even  so,  my  son — and  in  grievous  plight." 

"Deign  to  take  my  hand,  Holy  One — and  step  as 
lightly  as  possible!  There  be  three  of  us.  We  saw  thee 
attacked,  and  followed  as  quickly  as  might  be — climbing 
over  the  garden  wall." 

"Thou  art  not  Osmanli,  my  son!  Thy  tongue  hath  a 
roughness  like  that  of  the  Ingiliz  I" 

"It  is  even  so,  O  Sheik.  I  am  Captain  Leicester  of 
the  British  Embassy — whom  thou  mayest  have  seen  there 
upon  occasion.  Lef tenant  Hedges  and  a  good  Turkish 
friend  are  with  me.  Come  quickly  before  we  are  discov- 
ered!" 

In  the  garden  two  other  indistinct  figures  gently  grasped 
the  Sheik  by  his  elbows  and  partly  supported  him  as  he 
walked  out  of  the  little  gate.  A  short  distance  away, 
they  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  prominent  Osmanli,  who 
telephoned  for  a  carriage  and  administered  restoratives  to 
Mussa. 

As  they  left  Von  Holtzen's  garden  another  ghost  drag- 
ged a  struggling  sheep  into  the  harim,  cut  its  throat,  cau- 
tiously opened  the  door  communicating  with  the  seldmlik, 
and  carrying  the  sheep  in  his  arms,  let  fall  a  trail  of  bloody 
drops  which  led  from  the  street  door  to  the  harim.  In  the 
room  where  the  Sheik  had  been  confined  he  left  a  pool  of 
blood  upon  the  divan  and  floor,  then  carried  the  sheep's 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  103 

carcass  out  through  the  garden  just  as  Von  Holtzen,  with 
his  adjutant  and  the  kavassy  came  home  from  Pera. 

Calling  for  the  orderly  and  Turkish  servant,  with 
no  response,  Von  Holtzen  and  the  kavass  proceeded  to 
search  the  lower  floor — presently  finding  them,  either 
drunk  or  drugged,  in  one  of  the  smaller  rooms.  Just 
then  they  became  conscious  of  a  hoarse  murmur  in  the 
street.  It  grew  louder — more  ominous.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments a  mighty  blow  from  a  water-logged  beam  shattered 
the  front  door,  and  a  mob  of  crazed  Mohammedans  surged 
into  the  seldmlik,  demanding  the  Sheik-ul-Islam. 

Von  Holtzen's  look  of  stupefied  amazement  was  reflected 
upon  the  faces  of  his  adjutant  and  the  kavass,  but  it 
carried  no  conviction.  In  a  moment  someone  looked 
down  at  the  floor — saw  the  trail  of  bloody  drops!  With 
hoarse  cries  of  rage  the  mob  followed  it — hesitated  a  mo- 
ment before  the  door  of  the  harimt  which  is,  to  all  Moslems, 
inviolable:  then  they  smashed  it  in  and  fetched  lights 
from  the  seldmlik.  On  the  dusty,  half-rotting  divan 
were  the  Sheik  'srobes  of  office  and  his  tarbush — soaked 
with  blood.  The  pile  of  filthy  rugs  bore  mute  testimony 
to  the  sort  of  covering  with  which  he  had  been  insulted. 
And  upon  a  tabouret  near  the  divan  was  a  dirty  plate  with 
two  rancid  ham  sandwiches ! 

That  quite  settled  it!  They  brought  Von  Holtzen  in- 
to the  room  with  his  four  men  and  deliberately  cut  their 
throats.  Afterward  they  did  other  things  which  cannot 
be  described.  They  didn't  burn  the  house,  because  fire  is 
too  serious  a  matter  in  Stamboul — but  they  wrecked  it. 
And  it  is  likely  to  stand  for  another  hundred  years  as  the 
memento  of  a  great  outrage  committed  against  the  Mo- 


104  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

hammedan  Faith.  No  Mussulman  will  enter  it.  No 
European  will  be  permitted  to  lease  or  occupy  it.  No 
man  may  destroy  it  and  build  again  upon  the  site. 

A  few  days  later  there  was  a  conference  at  the  secret  ren- 
dezvous in  the  Yeni  Kapou  quarter — Sir  Abdool  and  his 
mysterious  friend  being  about  to  leave  for  England  by  way 
of  Asia  Minor.  They  were  congratulating  themselves 
upon  the  successful  way  in  which  their  work  had  been 
accomplished,  and  speculating  as  to  its  future  effect.  The 
still  unknown  Hadji  was  inclined  to  think  it  would  take 
time  to  work  out. 

"The  powder  is  getting  warmed  up  to  the  exploding 
point,  gentlemen — but  no  leader  has  yet  appeared.  The 
seed,  however,  has  been  sown.  It  will  take  time  for  the 
story  to  reach  the  farther  extremes  of  the  Empire;  never- 
theless it  will  travel  there  just  as  surely,  and  will  lose  noth- 
ing in  the  telling.  Nor  will  it  be  forgotten  that  two 
Englishmen  from  the  British  Embassy — remaining  in 
Stamboul  at  the  risk  of  their  lives — went  out  of  their  way 
to  rescue  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  from  what  seemed  unquestion- 
ably a  death-trap.  The  wiping  out  of  Von  Holtzen  and 
his  people  was  only  an  incident.  All  Turkey  will  snarl 
at  the  suggestion  that  it  was  a  personal  grudge  upon  his 
part.  They  believe  now  that  Mussa's  abduction  and 
death  had  been  decided  upon  as  a  coup  d'etat  with  the  idea 
of  terrorizing  all  the  conservative  element  among  the  Turks. 
We  have  scored  a  coup  that  will,  I  think,  have  far-reaching 
results — and  there  was  one  feature  which  I  consider  a 
masterpiece.  The  man  who  thought  it  out  certainly  ap- 
plied the  finishing  touch!  Which  of  you  was  it  that 
left  those  rancid  ham  sandwiches  by  Mussa's  divan  in  the 


THE  HONOR  OF  ISLAM  105 

harim?  Exactly  the  sort  of  thing  which  would  occur  to 
the  German  mind  as  rations  for  a  prisoner — yet  so  loaded 
with  possibilities  that  they  were  just  that  much  dynamite !" 
Devereux  grinned:  "Why — er — d'ye  see — I  fancy  I 
may  as  well  claim  that  as  my  own  little  touch,  old  chap. 
The  Indian  Mutiny,  don't  you  know,  started  with  pig's 
fat  on  the  cartridges.  Pig  is  the  limit  in  uncleanlmess  to 
all  True  Believers." 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    NEUTRALITY    OF    HOLLAND 

WHILE  Lord  Trevor  and  Sir  Abdool  were  re- 
turning from  Constantinople — by  devious  ways, 
on  frowsy  little  tramp  steamers — Sir  Francis 
Lammerford,  after  months  of  valuable  and  dangerous  secret- 
service  work  in  Petrograd,  was  on  his  way  home  to  London 
for  a  brief  rest.  With  the  friendly  assistance  of  the  Secret 
Police  he  had  left  Russia;  in  the  character  of  an  American 
with  German  ancestry  taking  the  steamer  across  to  Stock- 
holm, then  the  railway  down  to  Malmo,  crossing  the 
Sound  to  Copenhagen;  down  through  Denmark  to  Ham- 
burg, Bremen,  and  Osnabruck — where  certain  banking 
houses  received  him  cordially  as  a  supposed  connection  of 
their  American  branch;  then  over  into  the  Netherlands 
from  where  he  was  to  sail  on  one  of  the  Holland-Amerika 
liners.  His  being  in  The  Hague,  rather  than  Rotterdam — 
from  which  port  his  steamer  sailed  two  days  later — was 
accounted  for  by  a  visit  to  the  Hague  branch  of  his  bank- 
ing house  before  he  left.  In  fact,  the  House  of  Van  Es  & 
Co.  wrote  their  Hamburg  and  Bremen  correspondents  that 
they  had  received  a  call  from  him  which  they  thought 
might  lead  to  increased  American  business. 

Just  here  it  may  be  of  interest  to  explain  that  the  For- 
eign Office  of  every  Government  has  ramifications  in  all 
of  the  world's  capitals  which  enable  it  to  procure  backing 

106 


THE  NEUTRALITY  O?  HOLLAND        107 

and  ere  'entials — often  by  cable,  at  a  few  hours'  notice — 
so  that  subsequent  inquiries  mect^  with  satisfactory 
assurance  that  a  person  has  every  right  to  claim  such  a 
connection.  Let  us  suppose,  for  example,  the  British 
Embassy  hi  Washington  transacts  different  portions  of  its 
business  through  Messrs.  Brown  Bros,  of  New  York,  Messrs. 
Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co.,  and  Messrs.  Courthier  Freres.  Although 
war  and  politics  enter  very  little  into  the  banking  business 
hi  a  neutral  country,  Kuhn,  Leeb  &  Co.  represent,  na- 
tionally, the  enemies  of  Brown  Brothers.  Hence,  under 
present  conditions,  it  would  be  suicidal  for  the  man  in 
E  urope  if  the  British  Ambassador  even  asked  for  any  backing 
through  the  German  firm.  But  Mr.  Hermann  Steinberger, 
the  well-known  Wall  St.  broker  (who  is  really  Mr.  Herbert 
Stornfield,  a  secret  agent  of  the  British  Foreign  Office), 
has  an  account  with  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co.  Having  received 
a  request  from  the  British  Embassy  in  Washington,  he 
drops  in  for  a  confidential  interview  with  the  General 
Manager  of  the  German  banking  house — tells  him  that  a 
fellow  German-American  is  coming  into  Germany  from 
Sweden  with  the  intention  of  going  to  England  by  way  of 
Rotterdam,  thinking  he  may  be  able  to  pick  up  war  secrets 
which  will  be  immensely  valuable  to  Wilhelmstrasse — that, 
from  the  probability  of  there  being  English  spies  who 
might  easily  spot  collusion  with  an  impostor  in  any  Ger- 
man business  house,  it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  have 
bona-fide  American  backing  while  in  Germany.  The 
Manager  winks — lights  a  cigar — 

"Enough,  my  good  Herr  Steinberger!  It  iss  done 
efery  week!  We  understand  each  other  perfectly!  Der 
Vaterlandt  haf  received  much  valuable  information 


108  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

through  such  channels.  Let  us  see,  now?  Der  ch^ntle- 

man's  name  iss ? — your  friendt's  name  iss ?  Der 

Mister  Charles  Colmar,  spelled  mit  a  *C.'  Ja?  Very 
goodt !  Mister  Charles  Colmar  iss  now  upon  der  books  of 
this  company  as  salesman  in  our  bond  department,  at 
present  looking  into  der  matter  of  loans — abroad  in 
Schweden.  In  a  few  days,  comes  der  cable  from  our  Ham- 
burg House — do  we  know  him?  Undt  we  at  once  cable 
back  he  iss  all  right.  Ja!  Don't  mention  it,  my  goodt 
Herr  Steinberger!  We  must  all  assist  der  Vaterlandt!" 

Sir  Francis  knew  The  Hague  from  Scheveningen  to 
Oranje  Plein  with  his  eyes  shut;  he  could  have  gone  un- 
erringly from  the  Staatspoor  Station  to  any  one  of  the 
handsome  detached  residences  in  the  Willems  Park  quar- 
ter on  a  snowy  winter  night  if  every  light  in  the  city  were 
suddenly  extinguished.  But  in  his  assumed  character  as 
an  American  tourist,  he  did  what  the  average  American 
tourist  would  do — asked  which  was  the  most  expensive 
hotel  in  town,  knowing  but  the  one  synonym  for  home 
comforts — and  proceeded  directly  to  the  Hotel  Paulez, 
opposite  the  Royal  Theatre. 

Taking  rooms  there  as  the  Heer  Charles  Colmar,  of 
New  York,  he  enjoyed  a  most  excellent  dinner,  but  noticed, 
while  glancing  through  an  English  paper,  that  one  of  his 
glasses  was  cracked.  Out  of  doors,  Lammerford's  sight 
was  abnormally  keen  for  his  fifty-odd  years,  but  to  read 
small  print  comfortably  he  required  lenses  of  the  second 
power — unusually  large  because  of  the  width  between  his 
eyes.  Sauntering  out  through  the  Vijver  Berg,  after 
dinner,  he  strolled  into  the  maze  of  narrow  streets  south- 
west of  the  Plaats — coming  eventually  to  an  oculist's 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         109 

shop  .on  the  ground  floor  of  an  old  seventeenth-century 
building  with  dormer  windows  in  its  steeply  pitched  roof. 
In  the  darkness,  he  failed  to  notice  the  name  over  the  door. 
The  place  looked  clean  and  businesslike,  and  the  limited 
display  of  optical  goods  in  the  window  seemed  to  indicate 
a  painstaking  craftsman;  so  he  stepped  in  and  looked  at 
various  articles  in  the  show-case  while  the  oculist  talked 
with  another  customer  at  the  further  end  of  it,  toward  the 
rear  of  the  shop. 

To  Lammerford's  surprise,  he  noticed  that  they  were 
speaking  German — not  Dutch.  A  glance  at  the  proprie- 
tor gave  the  impression  that  he  might  be  Prussian  or  Sax- 
on from  his  facial  characteristics — not  a  Nederlander. 
Then  the  other  customer  turned  partly  toward  the  door 
for  a  moment,  and  Sir  Francis  recognized  him  as  Mr.  Phaid- 
rig  O'Meara — a  junior  attache  who  had  been  at  the  Brit- 
ish Legation  there,  for  over  a  year,  and  who  had  been  re- 
ported in  Downing  Street  as  rather  promising  diplomatic 
material.  Sir  Francis  knew,  however,  what  the  British 
Minister  and  even  Sir  Edward  Wray  did  not:  that  Phaid- 
rig  O'Meara  came  of  a  family  with  strong  Fenian  sym- 
pathies— was,  in  fact,  a  descendant  of  the  famous  Smith 
O'Brien — and  had  rather  expected  to  find  him  one  of  those 
Irishmen  who  hoped  for  British  defeat,  rather  than  a  loyal 
supporter  in  the  Empire's  hour  of  need. 

The  few  words  of  German  Sir  Francis  caught  seemed  to 
imply  a  certain  amount  of  intimacy  with  this  German  ocu- 
list, but  Lammerford  was  fair  enough  to  admit  that 
O'Meara  could  very  honestly  be  obtaining  information  of 
great  value  to  the  Foreign  Office  by  cultivating  that  sort  of 
acquaintance.  If  the  man  was  loyal  and  ambitious  for  a 


110  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

diplomatic  career,  as  his  superiors  thought,  his  being  in 
that  shop  under  such  circumstances  was  proof  both  of  his 
trustworthiness  and  ability.  On  the  other  hand,  if  heredity 
counted  for  anything,  his  presence  there  constituted  a 
serious  menace  to  England. 

It  was  quite  evident  that  he  had  not  recognized  Sir  Fran- 
cis or  even  suspected  him  as  a  former  acquaintance.  It 
was  evident  also  to  a  close  observer  that  the  pair  of  them 
were  nervously  irritated  by  the  entrance  of  a  stranger  just 
at  that  time.  The  oculist  purposely  ignored  the  pros- 
pective customer  for  several  minutes — presumably  in  the 
hope  that  he  would  take  offense  and  go  out.  Finally, 
however,  he  came  over  to  that  end  of  the  show-case  and  in- 
quired with  some  abruptness  what  the  stranger  wanted. 
Lammerford  passed  over  his  glasses.  The  German 
glanced  at  them  briefly,  tossed  them  into  a  velvet-lined 
drawer,  and  said:  "To-morrow  afternoon — four  o'clock!" 
Then  he  went  back  to  an  obviously  makeshift  talk  with 
O'Meara  about — tulips. 

Ten  minutes  after  Lammerford  went  out  the  oculist 
stepped  to  the  door  and  started  fastening  his  shutters  for 
the  night.  As  he  was  doing  so,  he  glanced  up  and  down 
the  narrow  street,  then  muttered:  "All  right!"  O'Meara, 
who  had  remained  leaning  upon  the  inner  end  of  the 
show-case,  sauntered  back  through  a  rear  door  which  gave 
access  to  the  house.  The  oculist  then  put  out  the  lights 
in  his  shop  and  followed  him  up  to  a  room  on  the  fourth 
floor,  under  the  pitched  roof. 

Half  an  hour  later  three  men  were  admitted  by  the 
street  entrance  to  the  house  at  one  side  of  the  shop,  and 
taken  up  to  the  same  room.  From  the  conversation 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND    111 

which  followed  one  would  have  gathered  that  the  well- 
built,  light-bearded  man  was  a  secret  agent  of  Wil- 
helmstrasse,  and  that  the  two  companions  who  came  in 
with  him  were  German  business  men  of  The  Hague  in 
good  standing  among  their  Dutch  neighbors.  Schmidt, 
the  oculist,  who  appeared  to  be  one  of  the  lesser  Wil- 
helmstrasse  agents,  got  down  to  business  as  soon  as  the 
pipes  were  going  and  the  beer  circulating. 

"We  have  been  talking  of  many  plans  during  the  last 
month,  gentlemen,  but  when  we  came  to  test  them  out, 
each  one  seemed  impracticable — not  likely  to  accom- 
plish what  we  wish.  O'Meara,  however,  appears  to  have 
solved  the  difficulty.  He  has  been  outlining  a  scheme  to 
me  which,  in  my  opinion,  cannot  fail.  We  have  all  agreed 
that  anything  producing  a  definite  break  with  England 
must  automatically  compel  the  Nederlanders  to  side  with 
us.  It  would  place  them  between  two  fires,  and  we  now 
have  three  hundred  thousand  men  encamped  along  the 
border — ready  to  enter  Holland  at  a  moment's  notice. 
It  would  be  impossible  for  Holland  successfully  to  resist 
a  sea  attack  from  England  and  a  land  attack  from  Ger- 
many at  the  same  time — she  must  side  with  one  or  the  other. 
If  she  breaks  with  England,  that  settles  it — irrevocably." 

The  other  Wilhelmstrasse  man  had  been  'thoughtfully 
smoking,  but  a  gleam  came  into  his  eyes  at  this. 

"What  is  O'Meara's  plan?"  he  demanded.  "Let's 
have  it!" 

"First  to  compromise  the  British  Minister,  here,  so  un- 
mistakably that  every  newspaper  in  the  city  will  do  its 
best  to  excite  popular  indignation  against  him — stir  up 
rioting  against  England — and  then  to  have  Sir  Alan 


112  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

assassinated  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
Dutch  Government  took  no  steps  to  protect  him." 

"  Bah !  That's  an  old  game  in  diplomacy !  It  was  even 
tried  against  the  Dutch  Minister  in  London,  a  year  ago!" 

"And  would  have  succeeded,  my  friend,  had  not  the  plan 
been  discovered  and  blocked  by  their  verdammten  Diplo- 
matic Free  Lance,  of  whom  one  hears  such  amazing  stories. 
It  would  have  succeeded — don't  forget  that!  The  plan 
is  not  new,  I  admit!  But  tell  me,  if  you  please,  what  plan 
is  new  in  diplomacy?  Work  out  something  which  you 
are  sure  is  original  in  your  own  massive  brain,  and  the  next 
schoolboy  you  meet  will  tell  you  it  was  tried  in  Assyria  or 
Babylonia  three  thousand  years  ago!  This  plan  is  as  old 
as  the  human  race.  And  it  has  been  successful  in  most  of 
the  cases  where  it  has  been  tried! 

"  But  there  are  features  about  this  scheme  of  O'Meara's 
which  make  it  different — more  promising.  This  British 
Minister  has  Dutch  blood  in  him.  He  is  a  lineal  descen- 
dant of  the  Vanden  Bempde  family — which  has  made  him 
more  than  usually  persona  grata  with  Queen  Wilhelmina. 
When  such  a  man  is  caught  treacherously  planning  to  be- 
tray and  annex  the  Netherlands,  it  will  arouse  ten  times  the 
public  indignation  that  it  would  if  he  were  not  partly 
Dutch  himself!  Is  it  that  you  comprehend?  On  the 
other  hand,  his  assassination,  not  prevented  by  this  Gov- 
ernment, will  be  doubly  exasperating  to  England  after  her 
diplomatic  care  in  trusting  her  representation  to  a  man 
who  is  partly  Dutch  in  sympathy  and  blood.  See  the 
point?  As  O'Meara  has  blocked  it  out,  the  plan  cannot 
fail!  All  he  asks  is  one  of  the  Cabinet  ministers  who  can 
be  bribed  to  assist  him." 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         113 

"Hmph!  He  doesn't  ask  much,  this  Irish  friend  of 
ours!  Bribing  a  Cabinet  minister  is  a  trifling  detail,  as 
everyone  knows!" 

O'Meara  grinned  at  this,  and  lighted  a  cigar. 

"Faith,  if  it  were  easy,  we'd  not  be  wastin'  our  breath 
upon  such  a  matter  now — 'twould  have  been  done  long 
ago !  'Tis  not  an  easy  job  to  pull  off  a  coup  of  any  sort  in 
diplomacy,  but  the  fact  that  it's  difficult  makes  it  all  the 
more  effective  when  successful.  Let  us  go  into  this  a  bit, 
now,  an'  see  how  it  looks.  We'll  take,  first,  the  Foreign 
Minister — the  Jonkheer  Loudon;  he's  by  way  of  being 
a  strong  English  sympathizer.  Jonkheer  Cort  van  der 
Linden,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  is  equally  so.  General 
Bosboom,  the  Minister  of  War,  is  a  bit  on  the  other  side — 
has  much  admiration  for  the  German  army  and  its 
methods.  I've  been  thinking  him  over,  but  I  can't  see 
any  way  to  get  hold  of  him  without  riskin'  too  much  in 
case  he's  really  loyal  to  his  own  country.  Captain  Ram- 
bonnet,  the  Minister  of  Marine,  is  another  of  the  same 
sort.  Doctor  Mely,  however,  I  know  to  be  a  German 
sympathizer,  and  he's  in  business  difficulties  on  account 
of  the  war.  The  house  in  which  he  is  a  two-thirds  owner 
has  met  with  heavy  losses  in  Belgian  investments  and 
accounts;  he's  been  obliged  to  borrow  heavily  from  banks 
which  are  associated  with  those  in  Hamburg  and  Berlin. 
Can  any  of  you  suggest  a  way  of  exerting  pressure 
upon  him?" 

After  a  moment's  silence  Rudolph  Kirschwasser,  a 
wealthy  German  merchant  of  The  Hague,  spoke  up. 

"  I  should  put  him  in  the  hands  of  Fraulein  Katrina  von 
Kattenberg  for  a  few  weeks;  she'll  get  him  infatuated 


114  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

very  easily,  and  will  know  just  where  to  put  on  the  pres- 
sure." 

"No!  I  object  to  mixing  her  up  with  this  sort  of  thing 
at  all!  In  the  first  place,  I  don't  think  she'd  do  it;  then, 
before  we  get  through  with  this,  there's  the  ugly  business 
of  assassination  to  consider.  No!  Keep  her  out  of  it!" 

O'Meara  spoke  with  some  heat.  It  had  been  through 
his  own  infatuation  for  the  handsome  Viennese,  and  his 
frequent  visits  in  the  house  where  she  had  lived  for  years 
with  her  uncle,  that  he  had  been  drawn  into  contact  with 
the  German  element  at  The  Hague;  and  he  was  jealously 
averse  to  her  being  placed  in  a  position  where  presumably 
she  would  have  to  encourage  familiarities  from  a  man  of 
Dr.  Mely's  attractiveness.  The  others  looked  up  in  aston- 
ishment at  his  outburst,  then  glanced  understandingly  at 
each  other. 

"Look  you,  my  friend — the  Fraulein  has  lived  in  The 
Hague  ever  since  she  came  to  her  uncle,  a  child  of  three, 
after  her  father's  death  in  Vienna.  Von  Kattenberg  has 
been  here  so  long  in  business,  has  been  identified  with  so 
many  national  associations,  that  he  is  considered  to  all 
intents  a  Nederlander.  He  is,  however,  the  private  banker 
of  Prins  Heinrich — and  has  kept  Wilhelmstrasse  closely 
in  touch  with  everything  that  happened  here.  The  Frau- 
lein herself  has  been  trained  from  childhood  to  assist  him 
in  that  sort  of  thing.  More  than  that — she  and  her 
uncle  have  maintained  so  entirely  a  neutral  position 
in  this  city  that  they  are  received  by  the  best  Dutch 
families.  A  dozen  of  the  young  Nederlanders  wish  to 
marry  her.  Mely  himself  is  one  of  her  open  admirers — 
though  copsideraMv  older.  She's  the  one  person  who 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         115 

might  involve  him  with  us  until  it  is  too  late  to  back  out — 
after  which  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  for  her  uncle  to  obtain 
a  number  of  Mely's  outstanding  notes,  and  put  on  the 
screws  until  he  doesn't  know  which  way  to  turn." 

O'Meara  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  the  force  of  all  this, 
and  knew  that  further  opposition  would  only  make  them 
distrust  him. 

"Oh,  very  well!  It's  a  beastly  game  to  drag  a  woman 
into,  but  if  you're  so  sure  of  her  securing  Mely's  assistance, 
I  suppose  that  outweighs  my  objections.  You  have  a  talk 
with  her,  Kirschwasser,  and  explain  the  whole  lay-out. 
All  I  want  of  Mely  is  to  conceal  a  package  of  papers,  dur- 
ing a  certain  interview,  where  he  can  discover  them  in  a 
compromising  position  and  show  'em  to  his  colleagues. 
He'll  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  killing — no 
blood  on  his  hands,  or  anything  of  that  sort.  Even  so,  I 
think  your  bribe  will  have  to  be  so  large  that  he  can't  re- 
fuse it.  Don't  try  a  piffling  game  with  him,  or  you  stand 
to  lose  out!" 

"You  need  have  no  fears  upon  that  score,  O'Meara! 
The  kaiser  and  his  Government  do  nothing  by  halves. 
We  have  already  spent  a  hundred  millions  in  acquiring 
newspaper  shares  throughout  the  United  States — and  we 
seldom  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  save  a  pfennig 
where  doppelkronen  are  needed." 

When  Lammerford  returned  to  his  hotel,  he  sat  down  in 
the  smoking  lounge  with  a  cigar,  to  think  over  what  he 
really  knew  against  O'Meara — finding,  upon  analysis, 
that  it  amounted  to  little  more  than  conviction  as  to  the 
man's  political  sympathies,  judging  from  what  his  family 


116  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

had  been  in  times  past.  Altogether,  Sir  Francis  was  in- 
clined to  suspend  judgment  until  he  had  more  definite 
cause  for  suspicion. 

If  he  could  have  gone  directly  to  the  British  Legation  in 
the  Hooge-Westeinde,  that  night,  and  had  a  conference 
with  Sir  Alan,  he  would  have  done  so.  But  for  a  man 
known  to  German  banking-houses  as  a  German-American, 
to  visit  openly  a  British  Minister  in  war  time  was  a  little 
too  raw.  He  managed  it  next  morning  by  accepting  an 
invitation  to  motor  with  a  well-known  Hollander  who  was 
secretly  a  British  agent — meeting  Sir  Alan  as  a  stranger, 
when  their  Dutch  mutual  friend  invited  the  Minister  to 
return  from  Scheveningen  in  their  car.  During  the  oppor- 
tunity thus  offered  Lammerford  obtained  considerable  up- 
to-the-minute  information  as  to  local  conditions  at  The 
Hague — and  some  additional  points  concerning  O'Meara, 
which  set  him  thinking. 

At  two  o'clock  he  called  at  Karl  Schmidt's  shop  to  ask 
whether  his  glasses  would  surely  be  ready  when  promised. 
Knowing  the  man  for  a  Prussian,  there  had  been  nothing 
really  unusual  in  his  ill-mannered  abruptness  of  the  pre- 
vious evening — but  Lammerford  was  suspicious  of  him 
for  all  that.  He  knew  that  unless  the  oculist  happened  to 
have  a  lens  of  that  unusual  size  in  stock,  it  was  the  better 
part  of  a  day's  work  to  grind  and  fit  one.  Schmidt  had 
said  the  glasses  would  be  ready  by  four  o'clock — which 
meant  that  he  might  have  had  to  work  two  or  three  hours 
on  them  before  he  went  to  bed.  He  employed  two  assis- 
tants but,  presumably,  they  had  plenty  of  other  work  to 
complete  next  day.  So,  calling  at  two  o'clock,  he  couldn't 
have  reasonably  complained  if  told  that  his  glasses  would- 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         117 

n't  be  finished  that  day  at  all.  Instead  of  which,  Schmidt 
immediately  produced  them — with  the  new  lens  in  place. 

Now,  the  one  thing  a  Continental  tradesman  will  not  do 
is  deliver  a  hurry  job  before  the  hour  at  which  he  has  prom- 
ised it — particularly  if  the  customer  be  an  American, 
with  his  absurd  weakness  for  haste.  Usually  the  trades- 
man will  make  him  wait  longer  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
charge  an  additional  fee  for  neglecting  other  work  to  com- 
plete his.  But  there  was  no  extra  charge,  and  the  job  was 
finished  two  hours  ahead  of  tune.  When  Sir  Francis  left 
the  shop  he  was  convinced  that  Schmidt  didn't  want  any 
stranger  in  it,  after  a  certain  hour  that  afternoon,  who  was 
unaccounted  for. 

On  the  spur  of  the  moment,  he  entered  a  house  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street  and  inquired  for  a  furnished 
room.  As  it  happened,  there  was  a  vacant  one  in  front, 
which  he  promptly  engaged  for  a  week — saying  that  he 
would  sit  down  and  write  some  letters  before  going  to  the 
hotel  for  his  luggage.  From  behind  the  blinds  he  watched 
the  oculist's  shop  until  sunset — and  was  about  to  give  it 
up  when  he  saw  O'Meara  coming  down  the  little  street 
ahead  of  three  Germans,  one  of  whom  he  recognized  as  a 
Wilhelmstrasse  spy  of  considerable  ability. 

These  men  turned  in  at  Schmidt's  door  a  moment  after 
the  Irishman  had  entered.  In  the  time  it  took  Lammerford 
to  get  from  his  room  into  the  street,  he  knew  it  was  im- 
possible for  them  to  have  reached  the  nearest  comer,  had 
they  come  out  of  the  shop — yet  when  he  walked  past  it, 
glancing  in  through  the  window,  the  place  was  empty 
save  for  one  of  the  apprentices.  Obviously,  Schmidt  and 
the  four  men  were  somewhere  in  the  upper  part  of  the 


118  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

house.  After  a  moment  of  quick  thinking  at  the  next 
corner  Lammerford  decided  that  what  he  had  seen  might 
prove  of  the  utmost  seriousness — too  much  so  for  O'Meara 
to  handle  alone — supposing  him  to  be  loyal.  If  he  were 
not?  If  the  Irishman  was  a  traitor ? 

His  speculations  were  interrupted  by  the  appearance  of 
a  stylish  limous'ne  which  spun  around  the  corner,  ran 
smoothly  down  the  block,  and  stopped  before  the  oculist's 
shop  just  long  enough  to  permit  a  woman,  muffled  in  a 
dark  silk  opera-cloak,  to  hurry  in  at  the  narrow  doorway 
which  gave  access  to  the  upper  part  of  the  house.  In 
fact,  the  car  didn't  appear  to  lose  headway  at  all — van- 
ishing around  a  bend  in  the  narrow  street  before  he  could 
make  out  its  number  or  other  distinguishing  marks.  He 
had  caught  a  fleet  ng  glimpse  of  an  indistinct  but  hand- 
some face  inside  which  seemed  hauntingly  familiar — but 
he  couldn't  place  it. 

The  incident  added  to  Lammerford's  conviction  that 
something  dangerous  was  afoot — whether  against  the 
Nederlands  Government  individually  or  the  Entente  col- 
lectively, he  couldn't  determine.  Apart  from  the  Legation 
attaches — two  of  whom  were  detailed  in  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Luxembourg — and  two  secret  agents  who  passed  as 
resident  Nederlanders,  there  was  no  one  available  in  The 
Hague  for  the  peculiarly  delicate  and  dangerous  service 
which  appeared  to  be  indicated.  Inside  of  ten  minutes 
from  the  time  he  left  his  recently  acquired  room  he  came  to 
a  decision,  and  took  the  two  o'clock  boat  from  Rotterdam 
next  day  for  Harwich,  reaching  Liverpool  Street  Station 
at  11:30  P.M. 

A  message  announcing  his  arrival  having  been  dis- 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         119 

patched  from  Harwich  to  a  fellow  American  at  the  Trav- 
ellers' Club  that  gentleman  (secretly  connected  with 
Downing  Street]  casually  asked  Sir  Edward  Wray  over 
the  telephone  whether  it  would  be  convenient  for  him  to 
join  Lord  and  Lady  Trevor  at  a  late  supper  in  their  Park 
Lane  mansion.  Sir  Edward  was  obliged  to  leave  a  Duke's 
box  at  the  opera  before  the  last  act  in  order  to  make  it — 
but  he  didn't  hesitate  on  that  account.  Consequently, 
when  Lammerf ord  reached  the  house,  he  found  the  Trevors, 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  a  hot  dinner 
awaiting  him. 

Although  Her  Ladyship's  mixed  Afghan  and  English 
household  were  absolutely  dependable,  even  to  the  point 
of  risking  their  lives  when  necessary,  the  dinner- talk  was 
confined  to  casual  topics  until  they  went  across  the  hall 
into  the  big  Jacobean  library  for  coffee  and  cigars.  There, 
Sir  Francis  outlined  what  he  had  noticed  in  Karl  Schmidt's 
shop  at  The  Hague — together  with  what  he  had  picked  up 
from  Sir  Alan  during  the  motor  ride  from  Scheveningen. 
Sir  Edward  was  inclined  to  minimize  any  probable  danger 
to  the  Entente  from  such  a  source — upon  the  ground  that 
Sir  Alan  was  an  exceedingly  able  diplomat  who  had  his 
Legation  affairs  well  in  hand,  and  that  the  resident  secret 
agents  were  undoubtedly  well  posted  as  to  everything  go- 
ing on  under  the  surface.  But  neither  His  Lordship  nor 
Lady  Nan  agreed  with  him. 

"The  chief  point  you're  overlookin',  Ned,  is  the  loyalty 
of  Phaidrig  O'Meara!  If  the  man  is  true  to  his  salt, 
he'll  have  that  situation  well  enough  in  hand  to  give  us 
ample  warnin'  before  the  critical  moment — though  if  it 
proves  as  big  as  Lammy  fears,  it  may  easily  get  beyond 


120  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

him.  Sir  Alan's  tendency,  as  we  know,  is  to  assume  that 
threatening  incidents  seldom  amount  to  anything.  One 
hears  the  cry  of  '  wolf !'  so  everlawstin'ly  in  the  Service — 
with  so  little  comin'of  it,  hah*  the  time — thatlfawncy  we  all 
get  a  bit  careless,  d'ye  see.  However,  there's  no  gettin* 
around  what  Lammy  says  about  Phaidrig  O'Meara's  fam- 
ily. O'Meara's  father  was  among  the  Fenians  under  Colo- 
nel O'Niel  who  crossed  Niagara  into  Canada  in  May, 
1866,  killin'  a  good  many  Canadians  before  they  were 
captured.  We  know  that  the  father,  an  uncle,  an*  three 
cousins,  took  the  celebrated  Fenian  Oath — but  this  boy 
spent  several  years  as  apprentice  in  the  counting-room  of 
another  uncle  in  Bombay,  goin'  from  that  into  the  Con- 
sular Service  an'  then  into  the  Diplomatic.  As  far  as  his 
record  shows,  there  is  nothing  against  him — but  he  pays 
frequent  visits  to  relatives  in  Dublin  and  Limerick,  seemin* 
to  be  upon  the  best  of  terms  with  'em.  All  his  family  con- 
sider a  South  of  Ireland  man  who  is  loyal  to  the  British 
Government  a  renegade — they  don't  hesitate  to  call  him 
one.  Now — is  it  possible  that  a  man  with  his  blood,  on 
excellent  terms  with  his  family,  can  be  loyal  to  the  Crown?" 

"  Faith,  if  you  put  it  that  way,  George,  I'd  say  it's  not 
possible !  But — my  word,  man !  If  he's  a  traitor  at  heart 
— eh?  That  means  he's  actually  hand  in  glove  with  those 
bally  rotters  over  yon  that  Lammy 's  been  nosin'  out! 
Actually  conspiring  with  them  while  he's  connected  with 
the  British  Legation  an'  having  no  end  of  Governm'nt 
information  to  give  away  if  he  chooses!  What?" 

"That's  precisely  what  Lammy 's  afraid  of!  If  he's 
right — an'  I'll  wager  he  is,  because  I  know  that  Fenian 
breed — there's  nobody  at  The  Hague  in  position  to  handle 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         121 

a  matter  of  such  gravity.  We've  but  two  resident 
Downing  Street  men  there,  because  we've  had  more  work 
for  the  force,  elsewhere,  than  twice  the  number  could  do. 
One  of  'em's  the  merchant  who  contrived  that  conference 
with  Sir  Alan  hi  his  motor  car;  the  other  is  the  editor  of 
De  Haagsche  Dagblad,  one  of  the  papers  controlled  by  my 
syndicate.  He  knows  me  as  the  majority  shareholder  and 
general  director,  but  has  no  suspicion  of  my  diplomatic 
activities.  I'd  say,  offhand,  that  he's  bright  enough  to 
give  us  mighty  valuable  assistance — an'  my  interest  in 
the  affair,  as  a  big  press-syndicate  director,  will  seem  per- 
fectly natural  to  him." 

"You  mean  to  say  you're  thinking  of  going  over  there 
yourself,  George !  Hmph !  I  fancy  there's  not  another  man 
in  England  with  your  constitution,  old  chap.  You  get 
back  two  days  ago  from  Constantinople,  with  Sir  Abdool — 
an'  from  what  you've  both  hinted,  I  gather  that  the  risk  on 
your  lives  wouldn't  have  been  worth  a  German  Treaty 
during  any  moment  of  the  time  you  were  in  Turkey. 
What  you  pulled  off  there  was  a  miracle,  no  less!  An* 
now  you  talk  of  dippin*  into  another  mess,  with  scarcely 
a  decent  night's  rest  between!" 

"How  about  'Lammy'?  He's  been  doin'  things  in  Pet- 
rograd  for  months  that  make  a  chap  wonder  he's  alive. 
When  they  sent  me  to  Siberia,  I  fawncied  the  poor  old  chap 
would  be  shot  before  my  train  crossed  the  Caucasus.  He 
starts  home,  peaceably,  for  a  much-needed  rest — but  not 
by  way  of  Christiania;  oh,  no,  indeed!  Has  to  come  down 
through  Hamburg  an'  Bremen  to  Holland,  just  for  fear  he 
might  miss  something.  We  may  jolly  well  thank  our 
lucky  stars  that  he  did,  I  fawncy!  What?  I  say!  Why 


122  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

isn't  it  a  good  idea  for  Nan  an'  me  to  run  over  on  the  Ranee 
Sylvia  via  the  Hoek  of  Holland,  anchor  at  Rotterdam — an' 
run  up  to  s'Gravenhage  for  a  short  visit  to  Her  Majes- 
ty, eh?  I  used  to  skate  with  her  occasionally,  when  she 
wore  short  skirts  an'  pigtails;  she's  not  forgotten  it, 
either!  Lady  Nan  and  I  have  been  guests  in  the  Paleis 
des  Konings  more  than  once,  d'ye  see,  an'  I  rawther 
fancy  our  bein'  in  The  Hague  just  now  may  assist  in 
maintainin'  friendly  relations  between  the  two  Govern- 
m'nts.  We'll  take  a  suite  at  the  Paulez  until  we've  made 
our  formal  call  at  the  Paleis.  Fortunately,  the  yacht — 
or  rawther  Scout  Cruiser  S-49 — happens  to  be  coalin'  at 
Gravesend.  The  telephone  connection  is  laid  on  as  usual 
— I'll  just  have  'em  put  Cap'n  Forbes  on  the  wire  an'  say 
we'll  breakfast  aboard  at  six  in  the  morning,  then  run 
directly  across.  The  Ranee  does  thirty-five  knots 
— but  we'll  say  thirty — with  an  average  sea.  That'll 
get  us  to  the  Hoek  of  Holland  about  noon,  an'  up 
to  The  Hague  before  two  o'clock — just  twenty-four  hours 
after  'Lammy'  left  Rotterdam.  I  doubt  if  anything 
much  has  happened  since  he  was  at  the  Paulez." 

Upon  returning  to  The  Hague,  it  seemed  advisable  to 
Lammerford  that  he  should  abandon  his  German-Amer- 
ican impersonation,  so  he  shaved  off  the  beard  which  had 
been  a  distinguishing  feature  of  Mr.  Charles  Colmar.  An 
innocently  worded  press  message  from  London  had  pre- 
pared Editor  Van  der  Beers  for  the  arrival  of  his  syndicate 
director;  consequently  he  had  a  legitimate  business  excuse 
for  calling  upon  Lord  Trevor  at  the  Hotel  Paulez  within 
half  an  hour  after  the  celebrated  peer's  arrival.  It  was 
also  natural  enough  that  Lord  and  Lady  Trevor,  accom- 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         123 

panied  by  their  friend  Sir  Francis  Lammerford,  should  re- 
turn with  Van  der  Beers  to  inspect  the  recently  built,  up- 
to-date  home  of  the  paper  in  the  Spui  Straat — but  the 
real  purpose  of  the  visit  would  have  surprised  many  an 
honest  Nederlander  who  read  De  Haagsche  Dagblad  every 
morning. 

Opening  from  the  editor's  private  office  at  the  rear  of  the 
top  floor  was  a  sound-proof  director's  room  where  con- 
ferences might  be  held  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night  with 
practically  no  risk  of  their  being  overheard.  Connected 
with  the  directors'  room  was  a  small  suite  consisting  of 
bedroom  and  bath — for  the  private  use  of  the  editor  or 
any  of  his  associates  whose  business  at  the  newspaper 
office  required  their  presence  there  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  night.  In  fact,  that  floor  of  the  building  had  been 
planned  with  an  eye  to  its  use  by  men  or  women  from 
Downing  Street  when  the  necessity  arose. 

When  Lord  and  Lady  Trevor  went  to  the  Haagsche 
Dagblad  offices  with  Van  der  Beers  and  Sir  Francis 
they  were  shown  into  the  directors'  room,  where  Lammer- 
ford described  what  he  had  seen  at  Karl  Schmidt's  shop 
and  what  he  suspected — withholding  only  their  doubts  as  to 
O'Meara's  loyalty.  After  reflecting  a  moment,  the  editor 
himself  expressed  this  doubt. 

"It's  a  bit  rotten,  you  know,  for  any  one  in  the  Service 
to  question  the  loyalty  of  a  brother  diplomat,  but  there's 
one  feature  in  Sir  Francis'  story  which  simply  can't 
be  overlooked.  If  O'Meara  should  prove  a  traitor, 
his  opportunity  for  gettin'  us  all  into  a  devil  of  a 
mess  is  altogether  too  good!  I  fancied  I  knew  this 
town  like  a  book — yet  I'd  never  heard  anything 


124  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

against  that  oculist  Schmidt  up  to  this  moment.  He's 
German — oh,  aye!  But  he's  been  in  that  shop  for  over 
twenty  years  an'  hasn't  appeared  to  bother  his  head  over 
the  war,  one  way  or  another.  He's  by  way  of  bein'  an  ex- 
pert in  his  trade — has  some  of  the  wealthiest  people  in 
town  among  his  regular  customers — lives  above  the  shop 
with  his  wife  and  the  family  of  his  son,  who  married  the 
Jufvrouw  van  Westerveldt.  Faith,  it  looks  to  me  as  if 
whatever  German  conspirators  there  may  have  been  in 
his  shop  were  fetched  there  by  O'Meara  as  a  safe  place  for 
a  rendezvous !  The  matter  appears  serious  enough  to  bear 
investigation." 

"Any  suggestions,  old  chap?" 

"Aye — we're  rather  in  luck,  as  it  happens.  You  no- 
ticed the  little  book-shop  next  door  to  Schmidt's,  Sir  Fran- 
cis? The  proprietor  is  Jan  van  Oosten — a  Nederlander  of 
very  old  family,  with  a  lot  of  pride,  who  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  me.  I  had  the  luck  to  save  his  life  and  a  good  bit 
of  money  for  him — possibly  saved  his  daughter  from  some- 
thin'  worse  than  robbery  at  the  same  time.  His  sympathies 
are  with  the  Entente,  because  he  has  education  enough  to 
know  that  German  success  would  mean  the  death-blow  to 
Holland.  Now,  I'd  suggest  that  you  drop  in  at  his  book- 
shop in  the  morning,  browse  among  the  old  editions  until 
His  Lordship  happens  along — as  a  stranger  to  you — an' 
goes  in  for  the  same  purpose.  Then  I'll  turn  up,  go  back 
into  the  house  with  Van  Oosten,  an'  tell  him  who  you  are. 
Watch  your  chance  an'  slip  through  the  door  from  the 
shop,  behind  a  long  bookcase — you'll  be  taken  up  to  his 
parlor,  where  you  can  explain  as  much  as  seems  necessary. 
Your  Lordship  prob'ly  won't  care  to  mess  in  this  affair 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         125 

too  deeply,  because  it  will  mean  unnecessary  risk  before 
we're  through — but  a  few  hours  in  Van  Oosten's  house 
may  be  of  decided  'news  interest.'  " 

/his  suggestion  of  Van  der  Beers's  (who  was  the  Hon, 
Henry  Wyndham  in  England)  was  acted  upon  next  morn- 
ing. When  the  three  men  had  been  taken  up  to  the  spot- 
less Dutch  parlor  by  Jan  van  Oosten  and  his  pretty  daugh- 
ter, the  Jufvrouw  Geertje,  it  appeared  that  Lord  Trevor 
had  been  known  to  them  by  s:ght  and  reputation  for  sev- 
eral years.  Geertje,  who  had  a  capable  business  head  and 
managed  her  father's  accounts,  was  a  social  favorite 
among  the  younger  set  at  The  Hague  and  had  been  pres- 
ent at  functions  where  His  Lordship  was  guest  of 
honor — partly  from  his  record  as  a  daring  aviator,  but 
largely  because  of  his  personal  charm  and  great  wealth. 
In  fact,  her  interest  was  so  evident  that  he  found  it  very 
flattering,  and  courteously  drew  her  into  a  t£te-a-tete  in 
one  corner  while  Sir  Francis  and  Van  der  Beers  were  dis- 
cussing the  house  next  door  with  her  father.  In  the  midst 
of  their  talk  she  caught  a  word  or  two  of  the  other  conver- 
sation— listened  for  a  moment,  her  eyes  opening  widely 
in  surprise  and  apprehension — then  turned  to  him  for  a 
more  complete  explanation. 

"Is  that  true,  Your  Lordship?  You  really  believe 
the  Schmidts  are  German  spies?" 

"I  fancy  there'll  be  little  doubt  of  it,  Mejufvrouw. 
We're  by  way  of  hoping  that  you  and  your  father  will  not 
object  to  our  watching  the  house  for  a  few  days  from 
behind  one  of  your  window  blinds.  With  your  permission 
we  may  even  get  into  the  house  from  one  of  your  dormer 


H6  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

windows  in  the  rear.  It  may  seem  to  you  that  we  are  med- 
dling with  what  is  none  of  our  business,  but  Sir  Francis 
was  formerly  connected  with  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war  he's  been  working  to  prevent 
complications  among  the  neutral  countries,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. As  a  commanding  officer  in  the  British  Navy,  it  is 
my  duty  to  assist  him  where  I  can." 

For  a  moment  she  appeared  to  be  hesitating  over  some- 
thing she  had  in  mind. 

"Your  Lordship!  I — something  has  just  occurred  to 
me  which  I  think  you  should  know !  Listen,  please!  My 
room  is  on  the  next  to  the  top  floor — under  the  slope  of  the 
roof.  I  have  up  there,  one  of  the  old  Dutch  stoves  with 
tiles  outside,  and  a  tiled  flue  which  connects  with  the  chim- 
ney. Between  the  stove  and  the  chimney  there  is  a  space 
of  eighteen  inches.  These  houses  are  more  than  two  hun- 
dred years  old — I  think  this  one  must  have  been  originally 
connected  with  the  Schmidts',  next  door,  for  my  chimney 
appears  to  have  a  flue  from  a  fireplace  in  the  correspond- 
ing room  on  their  side  of  the  wall.  The  opening  on  my 
side  was  bricked  up,  at  some  time  or  other,  and  faced  with 
tiles.  I  know  the  bricks  can't  be  very  thick,  because  I 
frequently  hear  the  sounds  of  voices  from  the  next  house, 
through  my  stove.  Two  nights  ago  I  heard  some  men  talk- 
ing in  that  room  until  long  after  midnight — I  could  even 
catch  an  occasional  word,  but  had  no  reason  for  paying 
attention  to  it  beyond  wishing  they  would  keep  still  and 
let  me  sleep  " 

"Would  you — er — be  willing  to  have  us  mess  up  your 
room  by  taking  out  some  of  those  tiles  and  bricks,  Mejuf- 
vrouw?" 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         127 

"That's  what  I  was  going  to  suggest  to  Your  Lordship! 
Would  you — I'm  quite  sure  there  will  be  nobody  on  that 
floor  in  the  next  house  at  this  time  of  day — would  you  care 
to  come  up  with  me  and  look  at  the  chimney  now?  Father 
has  a  number  of  house  tools — we  may  be  able  to  pry  some 
of  those  tiles  loose." 

Telling  her  father  what  she  had  in  mind,  Geertje  took 
His  Lordship  up  to  her  room — it  being  quite  evident, 
when  he  saw  it,  why  she  didn't  care  to  have  the  other 
men  invade  its  privacy  all  at  once.  It  was  as  neat  and 
dainty  as  the  boudoir  of  a  bride.  While  he  examined  the 
tiling,  evidently  very  old,  judging  by  the  depth  of  the 
cracks  between,  she  found  a  couple  of  sharp  chisels  and  a 
miniature  crowbar.  With  these  he  had  no  difficulty  in 
prying  off  a  number  of  the  tiles — the  mortar  and  fragments 
falling  upon  papers  which  she  had  spread  underneath. 
Back  of  the  tiling  there  was  a  single  thickness  of  bricks — 
and  by  carefully  manipulating  the  little  crowbar  he  suc- 
ceeded in  prying  two  of  them  loose  with  so  little  noise  that 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  hear  it  in  the  next  room. 
Working  patiently  for  more  than  an  hour,  he  removed 
enough  of  the  bricks  to  permit  his  crawling  through  into 
the  space  behind  them.  Flashing  a  small  electric  torch 
about  him,  he  discovered  that  the  chimney  must  have  been 
originally  used  as  a  secret  passage  between  the  two  houses, 
for  there  was  a  hinged  panel  six  feet  beyond  the  fireplace 
in  the  other  room.  Sending  Geertje  for  the  oil-can  from 
her  sewing-machine,  he  lubricated  the  hinges  and  the  old 
spring-catch — ascertaining  from  the  exposed  mechanism 
on  the  passage  side  just  where  the  secret  spring  must  be  in 
the  wainscoting  of  Schmidt's  room.  After  listening  until 


128  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

quite  sure  there  was  nobody  on  that  floor  in  the  other 
house,  he  pulled  back  the  catch  and  pried  open  the  secret 
panel,  then  worked  it  back  and  forth  as  he  oiled  the 
hinges  and  lock-mechanism  until  he  could  open  and  close 
it  without  a  single  protesting  squeak. 

From  the  appearance  of  the  room  on  Schmidt's  side,  he 
had  no  doubt  whatever  that  it  was  used  by  the  conspira- 
tors for  their  secret  conferences.  Hoping  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  them  before  long,  he  picked  a  hole  between  the  bricks 
at  the  back  of  their  fireplace  and  found  that  he  could  see 
practically  all  who  might  sit  around  the  big  table.  Then 
he  rejoined  Geertje,  helped  her  to  remove  all  traces  of  his 
work,  and  concealed  the  opening  in  her  chimney  by  stand- 
ing a  low  Japanese  screen  in  front  of  it. 

After  explaining  to  the  others  in  the  parlor  just  what 
they  had  done,  and  arranging  that  they  should  be  called 
by  telephone  the  moment  any  of  the  conspirators  were 
noticed  going  into  the  oculist's  shop,  Trevor  and  his  two 
companions  left  the  house.  That  night  passed  without 
developments — as  did  several  more.  At  the  end  of  the 
week  Van  der  Beers  received  a  telephone  message  at  his 
editorial  office  that  O  Meara  was  then  reading  a  newspaper 
in  the  oculist's  shop — evidently  awaiting  Schmidt's  return. 
Sir  Francis  happened  to  be  with  the  editor  at  the  moment, 
and  they  soon  located  His  Lordship  by  telephone. 

Inside  of  fifteen  minutes  all  three  of  them  had  entered 
Jan  van  Oosten's  book-shop,  which  was  open  during  the 
earlier  part  of  the  evening,  and  managed  to  slip  back  into 
the  house  without  being  noticed — the  door  being  concealed 
behind  a  long  and  high  bookcase. 

When  they  were  taken  up  to  Jufvrouw  Geertje's  room, 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         129 

His  Lordship  and  Lammerford  crawled  through  the  hole 
into  the  narrow  passage  behind  the  fireplace  and  sat  down 
with  their  eyes  at  the  little  crevices  Trevor  had  made  in 
the  fire-bricks.  They  had  been  there  scarcely  five  min- 
utes when  they  saw  the  oculist  enter  the  room,  followed  by 
O'Meara,Kirschwasser,  and  Stolb,  the  Wilhelmstrasse  man. 

Sitting  down  by  the  table,  they  waited  until  Schmidt 
had  produced  cigars,  pipes,  and  beer.  Then  Stolb  told 
them  of  the  Fraulein's  progress  with  the  Cabinet  Minister. 
(As  it  happened,  he  did  not  mention  either  of  them  by 
name.)  It  was  her  impression,  he  said,  that  the  Minister 
was  completely  infatuated.  She  anticipated  little  diffi- 
culty in  getting  him  to  carry  out  their  plan,  and  had  told 
Stolb  the  papers  should  be  in  her  hands  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. While  he  was  talking,  O'Meara  had  drawn  some 
documents  from  an  inside  pocket — unfolding  them  on  the 
table. 

"I  have  them  all  ready  for  her,  Stolb — will  hand  'em  to 
her  to-night  while  I'm  at  the  house.  But  first  I'd  like 
your  opinion — there  may  be  something  I've  overlooked. 
This  one  is  a  memorandum  of  just  where  every  troop  and 
company  of  the  Nederlands  army  is  stationed  at  this  mo- 
ment— it  betrays  a  knowledge  of  what  he's  not  supposed 
to  know,  upon  Sir  Alan's  part,  that  will  make  the  Cabinet 
Ministers  open  then-  eyes.  Here  is  a  tracing  of  the  War 
Department  map,  showing  the  location  and  armament 
of  all  the  recent  fortifications — together  with  the  avail- 
able munitions  stored  in  each.  Then  comes  this  letter 
from  Sir  Edward  Wray,  in  the  Legation  cipher,  with 
forged  initials  which  are  rather  convincin'.  Of  course,  the 
Intelligence  Department  of  the  Nederlands  Government 


130  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

could  probably  decode  it  with  time  and  patience,  but 
I've  slipped  in  a  pencil  memorandum  of  the  translation. 
The  first  third  of  the  letter  refers  to  matters  under  dis- 
cussion between  the  two  Governments — innocent  enough. 
But  following  that  comes  this  paragraph : 

"  'Concerning  our  arrangements  for  the  immediate  fu- 
ture, we  now  have  five  hundred  thousand  men,  equipped 
for  instant  departure,  where  they  can  be  embarked  on  trans- 
ports within  six  hours.  The  transports  are  ready — field 
artillery  loaded  upon  them,  with  ample  munitions.  We 
can  have  a  dozen  transports,  disguised  as  cargo-boats 
under  the  American  and  Argentine  flags,  up  the  Ni- 
euwe  Wafer  and  Holland  Deep  before  their  real  errand  is 
suspected.  With  the  German  troops  massed  along  the 
border  and  half  a  million  of  our  troops  actually  landed  in 
Holland,  the  Netherlands  Government  will  not  resist  us. 
It  must  join  forces  with  the  Entente,  and  we  shall  be  able  to 
smash  the  German  lines  of  communication.  In  the  fu- 
ture, of  course,  we  must  control  Holland,  absolutely,  and 
garrison  her  German  border  with  our  own  troops.  She 
must  become  to  all  intents  a  part  of  the  Empire.' 

"The  letter  then  goes  on  to  deal  with  other  matters — but 
when  the  Dutch  Cabinet  Ministers  read  that  paragraph,  it 
will  be  enough!  Now — the  plan  is  this:  Our  man  will 
frame  up  good  reason  for  a  call  upon  Sir  Alan  at  the  Brit- 
ish Legation,  with  two  of  his  colleagues  from  the  Cabinet. 
If  for  any  reason  he  leaves  the  room  for  a  moment,  these 
papers  will  be  dropped  by  our  'catspaw'  under  the  chair 
in  which  he  sat.  If  not,  our  man  will  tell  his  fellow  Min- 
isters after  they  leave  the  Legation  that  he  saw  the  papers 
drop  from  Sir  Alan's  pocket  and  quietly  picked  them  up 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         131 

with  the  idea  that,  in  times  like  these,  it  might  be  we1'  to 
get  all  the  side  points  on  other  Governments  which  might 
be  obtained."  (Stolb  banged  his  fist  upon  the  table  with 
an  exclamation  of  delight.) 

"And  the  natural  inference  is  that  Sir  Alan  was  inter- 
rupted in  decoding  that  cipher  letter  when  the  Ministers 
arrived — stuffed  letter  and  translation  hurriedly  into  his 
pocket  as  he  went  out  from  his  private  office  to  meet 
them!  Capital!  Splendid!  I  didn't  see  how  you  were 
to  account  for  such  stupidity  as  his  having  anything  of 
that  sort  upon  him  during  such  a  conference — but,  as 
you've  laid  it  out,  the  thing  is  entirely  possible !  What 
happens  next?" 

"Our  man  is  so  indignant  that  he  can't  restrain  him- 
self when  talking  at  his  club  with  the  editor  of  De  Voder- 
land,  who  is  strongly  pro-German.  That  editor  at  once 
confers  with  the  editors  of  two  other  pro-German  papers. 
In  half  an  hour  the  story  k  on  the  bulletins — an  extra 
edition  on  the  streets.  If  the  story  doesn't  arouse  a  dan- 
gerous burst  of  popular  fury  against  Sir  Alan  I  don't 
know  much  about  the  Nederlanders.  There  will  cer- 
tainly be  a  rioting  mob  gathered  in  front  of  the  Legation, 
demanding  that  the  Minister  come  out  and  show  himself. 
You  can't  scare  Sir  Alan,  he's  not  that  sort,  and  he'll 
have  perfect  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernment to  protect  him.  He  will  promptly  appear  at  the 
door  or  one  of  the  windows.  Stones  will  be  thrown  by 
the  mob — injuring  him — smashing  windows — and  a  few 
shots  fired.  We  will  attend  to  that.  One  of  the  shots 
will  come  from  a  man  who  hates  England — and  never 
misses.  Sir  Alan  will  be  killed.  The  Dutch  Government, 


132  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

with  proof  in  its  hands  of  Entente  treachery,  will  admit 
the  German  troops  and  side  with  them." 

After  a  moment's  silence,  while  the  probable  effect  of 
the  plot  sank  into  their  minds,  there  was  a  chorus  of  ad- 
miring exclamations.  Shortly  afterward  the  conspira- 
tors left  the  house.  When  the  listeners  crawled  back  into 
Geertje  van  Oosten's  room,  their  faces  were  bitten  deep 
with  consternation.  Briefly,  they  told  the  editor  and  Van 
Oosten  what  they  had  overheard — Lammerford  summing 
up  the  difficult  features  in  the  situation : 

"We  don't  even  know  which  of  the  Cabinet  was  re- 
ferred to  as  'our  man!'  That's  something  we'll  have  to 
find  out  within  a  very  few  hours — also  the  identity  of  the 
woman  mentioned  as  'the  Fraulein,'  who  is  undoubtedly 
the  one  I  saw  in  the  limousine.  We  can't  go  to  the  For- 
eign Minister  with  the  story,  because  we  haven't  a  shred  of 
proof  against  any  of  his  colleagues  at  present,  and  while  it 
seems  quite  impossible,  we're  not  entirely  sure  that  he  isn't 
the  man  himself.  We  can  and  must  warn  Sir  Alan  to  re- 
ceive nobody  at  present  without  witnesses — but  he'll 
laugh  at  the  story  when  he  hears  it.  He's  just  that 
sort!" 

Van  der  Beers  had  been  thinking  over  the  various  details 
of  the  plot  and  trying  to  match  them  with  other  things  he 
knew. 

"I  say,  you  know!  The  woman  must  be  Katrina  von 
Kattenberg,  who  keeps  house  for  her  uncle,  the  banker. 
They've  been  very  circumspect  in  what  they've  said  or 
done  since  the  war  started,  but  every  German  of  any  prom- 
inence who  comes  to  The  Hague  is  entertained  at  their 
house.  O'Meara  has  been  openly  one  of  her  admirers — 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         133 

calls  there  almost  every  evening,  when  he  can  find  a  de- 
cent excuse.  And  I  know  of  at  least  two  Cabinet  Minis- 
ters who  are  crazy  about  her.  My  word!  I'm  even 
rather  sure  of  the  man  whom  she  is  to  use  as  a  cat's  paw! 
Van  Kort  had  a  quarrel,  recently,  with  London,  the  For- 
eign Minister.  They  don't  speak  to  each  other — take 
opposite  sides  in  every  Cabinet  meeting.  And  Katrina 
von  Kattenberg  has  been  openly  siding  with  Van  Kort, 
who  owes  his  portfolio  to  Prins  Heinrich.  Van  Kort  is, 
I  should  say,  the  only  Minister  whom  it  would  be  possible 
for  her  to  use  in  any  such  way  as  this ! " 

"Then  I  fancy  we  may  take  at  least  one  step  which  ap- 
peared dangerous  until  you  explained  this.  If  Van  Kort 
has  quarreled  with  Loudon,  the  Foreign  Minister  will  at 
all  events  listen  to  what  we  know  and  what  we  suspect. 
Of  course,  he'll  take  no  action  without  more  proof — but 
against  an  enemy  like  Van  Kort  you  may  wager  he'll 
keep  his  eyes  open,  and  Trevor  can  describe  the  whole 
plot  to  Her  Majesty  so  that  the  Government  will  be  fore- 
warned. H-m-m — Van  Kort  gets  those  papers  this  even- 
ing at  the  Von  Kattenberg  house;  he  probably  won't  be  able 
to  arrange  with  his  colleagues  to  call  at  the  British  Legation 
to-night — and  yet,  he  may!  More  likely,  though,  it  will 
be  fixed  up  for  to-morrow  morning — just  about  the  time 
Sir  Alan  will  naturally  be  goin'  through  his  early  post 
from  London.  Well,  we  must  shadow  Van  Kort  and 
O'Meara  every  moment.  Harry,  you  know  the  minis- 
ter better  than  we  do,  so  we'll  put  him  in  your  charge. 
Lammy  will  keep  track  of  O'Meara.  And  I  will  ask  for  an 
interview  with  Her  Majesty — at  once!" 

As  the  others  preceded  him  down  the  stairs.  His  Lord- 


134  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ship  turned  back  to  Geertje  van  Oosten,  who  was  stand- 
ing just  outside  the  door  of  her  pretty  room. 

"Geertje,  Her  Majesty  and  England  both  owe  you  a 
debt  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  pay,  adequately.  Had  it 
not  been  for  your  tellin'  me  about  the  chimney  an'  helping 
us  to  overhear  that  conference  in  there,  we  might  have  been 
groping  in  the  dark  until  it  was  too  late  to  save  the  Neder- 
lands  from  the  consequences  of  this  beastly  conspiracy.  If 
it  is  ever  in  my  power  to  do  anything  for  you,  there'll  be 
no  need  of  asking  twice." 

Some  womanly  instinct  told  her  this  courteous  English 
peer — who  had  been  one  of  her  secretly  admired  celebri- 
ties for  years — was  an  even  greater  man  than  he  seemed. 
Some  expression  in  her  face  revealed  her  liking  for  him. 
He  bent  his  handsome  head  until  her  lips  touched  his  and 
her  arms  crept  around  his  neck — then  he  joined  the  others 
downstairs.  As  she  glanced  at  her  face  in  the  muslin- 
framed  mirror  she  knew  that  kiss  would  be  one  of  her 
most  cherished  memories  until  she  died. 

The  three  men  were  about  to  drift  out,  singly,  through 
the  book-shop,  when  the  bell  of  Van  Oosten's  private  tele- 
phone rang  insistently  in  his  study,  back  of  the  parlor, 
and  that  sixth  sense  possessed  by  all  who  play  the  great 
game  prompted  them  to  wait  until  he  answered  it.  In  a 
few  moments  he  came  out  of  the  study,  rather  breath- 
lessly. 

"Gentlemen — Lady  Trevor  is  now  waiting  at  the  Heer 
Van  der  Beers'  office  in  the  Haagsche  Dagblad  building, 
and  wishes  att  of  you  to  meet  her  there  at  once!" 

They  immediately  left  the  house — one  by  way  of  the 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND          135 

shop,  and  the  others  by  the  house-door — joining  each  other 
two  blocks  away,  as  they  hurried  down  through  the 
Groenmarkt  to  Spui  Straat.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  ur- 
gent telephone  message,  they  would  have  separated  after 
leaving  Van  Oosten's,  and  might  not  have  been  again 
in  touch  with  each  other  before  morning.  At  the  news- 
paper building  they  found  Lady  Nan  calmly  looking  at 
her  watch  in  Van  der  Beers'  private  office. 

"I  don't  know  whether  you've  discovered  anything  of 
importance,  but  /  have  stumbled  upon  something  which 
looks  dangerous — and  if  we're  to  block  it,  we  haven't 
fifteen  minutes  to  lose!  I  had  been  having  tea  with  that 
pretty  Juf  vrouw  Van  der  Emde  at  the  Paulez,  and  thought 
I'd  enjoy  the  walk  through  the  Lange  Voorhout  in  the  rain 
on  my  way  back  to  the  Paleis.  About  hah'  way  across, 
there  was  a  limousine  drawn  up  by  the  edge  of  the  prome- 
nade, and  a  man,  leaning  through  the  window,  was  talking 
to  a  woman  inside.  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  profile 
against  one  of  the  Park  lights,  recognizing  him  as  Dr. 
Mely — the  Cabinet  Minister.  Something  about  the 
limousine  appeared  familiar.  I  don't  know  why  I  thought 
of  such  a  thing,  but  I  stepped  down  from  the  kerb  as  if 
crossing  the  tramway  to  the  sidewalk  on  the  other  side 
— and  stopped  when  I  was  just  behind  the  car.  The  Doc- 
tor's back  was  toward  me,  so  he  didn't  notice  any  one 
approaching.  I  caught  the  words,  'Your  uncle,  Hen*  von 
Kattenberg' — which  identified  the  woman  at  once. 

"Then  I  heard  her  say  that  she  would  have  certain 
papers  ready  for  him  this  evening — that,  when  she  deliv- 
ered them  to  him  in  her  boudoir  on  the  second  floor,  he 
must  not  wait  until  morning  but  hunt  up  two  of  his  col- 


136  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

leagues  in  the  Cabinet  and  insist  upon  their  accompany- 
ing him  to  the  British  Legation  to-night,  to  demand  a 
certain  explanation  from  Sir  Alan — and  that,  when  there, 
he  would  know  what  to  do  with  the  papers.  From  one  or 
two  references  she  gave  I'm  quite  positive  she  must 
have  made  him  believe  that  the  British  Minister — though 
a  man  of  fifty -eight,  with  a  charming  family  of  his  own — 
had  grossly  insulted  her  at  a  moment  when  she  happened 
to  be  in  his  power,  and  that  if  this  plan  of  theirs  could  be 
carried  out,  it  must  ruin  Sir  Alan. 

"Then  she  kissed  him  and  he  walked  away  so  completely 
hypnotized  that  he  wouldn't  have  seen  me  if  I  had  crossed 
the  street  directly  in  front  of  him.  It  is  raining  quite 
steadily,  as  you  know — I'm  sure  that  no  one  else  was 
anywhere  near  that  limousine!** 

They  listened  to  her  story  in  amazement — fitting  it  in 
with  what  they  already  knew. 

"Are  you  quite  sure,  Nan,  that  the  man  wasn't  Jonkheer 
van  Kort — instead  of  Dr.  Mely?  It  simply  couldn't  be 
Mely,  you  know — unless  we're  altogether  on  the  wrong 
track!" 

"Oh,  I  know  Dr.  Mely  by  sight  as  well  as  I  know  Harry 
Wyndham  here,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet,  too !  It 
was  Mely!" 

"Then — my  word!  What!  If  your  telephone  mes- 
sage had  reached  Van  Oosten  two  minutes  later,  we  should 
have  scattered  to  different  parts  of  the  city — shadowin* 
Van  Kort  an'  O'Meara !  An'  the  fat  would  have  been  in 
the  fire  before  we  knew  where  we  were  at!  I  say!  I'll 
go  after  Loudon,  the  Foreign  Minister,  at  once — for  a  wit- 
ness !  We  must  figure  out  some  way  of  gettin'  into  the  Von 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         137 

Kattenberg  house  within  an  hour,  an'  taking  Loudon  with 
us " 

Van  der  Beers  spoke  up  quickly: 

"That's  the  simplest  feature  in  the  whole  affair!  The 
Fraulein  is  giving  a  dance  to-night — from  ten  till  two! 
The  paper  was  requested  to  send  a  representative,  of 
course — which  lets  me  in  as  a  very  desirable  guest.  Lou- 
don and  His  Lordship  would  be  more  than  welcome  on 
their  own  account — in  fact,  invitations  are  probably  wait- 
ing for  them  at  this  moment — including  Lady  Trevor,  as 
a  distinguished  visitor  at  the  Paleis.  Your  Ladyship's 
car  is  at  the  door;  you  and  Lord  Trevor  can  run  back  and 
dress  in  twenty  minutes,  while  Sir  Francis  gets  hold  of 
Loudon!  Meanwhile,  I'll  change  right  here  and  go  on  to 
Von  Kattenberg's  ahead  of  you.  Afterward  Sir  Francis 
can  keep  track  of  O'Meara  for  the  remainder  of  the  night! 
His  Lordship  and  the  Foreign  Minister  will  meet  me  in  the 
men's  dressing  room." 

A  little  less  than  an  hour  later — while  Lady  Nan  was 
the  centre  of  an  admiring  group  in  one  of  the  drawing 
rooms — His  Lordship  and  the  Foreign  Minister  stepped 
through  a  doorway  on  the  second  floor  which  Van  der 
Beers  had  indicated  with  a  nod,  in  passing.  For  the  mo- 
ment it  was  empty.  Hurrying  across  it,  they  slipped  be- 
hind a  portiere  into  the  Fraulein's  bedroom,  beyond — 
taking  the  precaution  of  opening  a  closet  door  in  case  they 
might  be  obliged  to  conceal  themselves.  They  had  been 
there  scarcely  ten  minutes  when  the  Fraulein  Katrina 
came  into  her  boudoir  with  O'Meara — who  gave  her  the 
papers  he  had  prepared,  repeated  a  few  particular  instruc- 
tions, and  went  out  again.  At  the  end  of  another  ten  min- 


138  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

utes  Dr.  Mely  cautiously  poked  in  his  head  at  the  door, 
and  entered  when  she  beckoned — closing  it  softly.  Hand- 
ing him  the  papers,  she  emphasized  the  necessity  for  ac* 
tion  that  night. 

"I  have  sure  information  that  Sir  Alan  will  be  at  the 
Legation  between  half-past  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock. 
After  showing  the  papers  to  your  fellow  Ministers  and 
leaving  them  in  their  possession,  will  you  please  go  at  once 
to  your  club,  where  Belrode  of  the  Vaderland  will  be  wait- 
ing for  you.  It  will  be  easy  to  appear  very  much  excited 
by  what  you  have  discovered,  and  tell  him  the  facts  before 
you  remember  that  it  may  be  indiscreet.  Two  other 
editors  are  likely  to  be  somewhere  near — overhearing 
enough  to  make  them  confer  with  Jonkheer  Belrode.  As 
you  see,  there  is  nothing  in  all  this  which  can  possibly 
injure  you,  my  friend — the  most  that  can  be  said  is  that 
you  were  a  trifle  indiscreet  in  dropping  too  much  of  it  to 
Belrode.  He  will  have  the  story  on  his  presses  by  one  in 
the  morning.  Oh — you  don't  know  what  this  means  to 
me !  I  feel  that  I  shall  never  recover  my  self -respect  until 
that  man  is  ruined  for  life !  May  I  depend  upon  you?  J&f 
Then  kiss  me,  and  go — quickly!" 

It  was  certainly  a  lingering  caress.  Just  as  he  turned  to 
go,  the  Foreign  Minister  stepped  back  upon  a  loose  board 
in  the  bedroom,  which  creaked  slightly. 

"What's  that?     Is  there  any  one  in  there?" 

"Inpossible!  That  is  my  bedroom!"  They  tiptoed 
over  to  the  portiere  and  drew  it  partly  aside.  The  room 
seemed  empty — but  the  door  of  the  closet,  in  which  her 
clothes  were  hanging  was  slightly  ajar.  With  that  sub- 
conscious modesty  which  most  women  possess,  she  went 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         139 

around  the  foot  of  the  bed,  pushed  the  door  shut — and 
shoved  the  bolt!  Then  she  left  the  room — a  moment 
after  Dr.  Mely. 

Inside  the  closet  there  were  a  few  explosive  remarks  as 
the  sound  of  her  footsteps  died  away.  The  two  men  tried 
to  force  the  bolt  from  its  fastenings  but  the  framing  was  of 
solid  oak;  they  couldn't  stir  it.  The  Minister  began  to 
realize  that  discovery  in  such  a  position  meant  ruin  to  his 
career.  Lord  Trevor  was  concerned  only  with  the  fact 
that  Dr.  Mely  was  getting  out  of  the  house  with  the  papers 
— and  that,  once  inside  the  British  Legation  with  his  fel- 
low Ministers,  the  affnir  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to 
handle.  Suddenly  they  heard  a  man  s  voice  speaking 
to  the  Fraulein's  maid  in  the  boudoir — a  voice  which  they 
identified  as  Van  der  Beers' — asking  whether  she  could 
find  her  mistress  at  once,  as  Lady  Trevor  wished  to  pay 
her  respects  before  leaving.  As  the  maid  went  down  the 
hall,  he  ran  into  the  bedroom  and  unbolted  the  door — ex- 
claiming softly: 

"Get  out  of  here  as  quickly  as  you  can!  That  maid  is 
likely  to  return  at  any  second!  I  noticed  you  didn't  come 
out  and  was  sure  you  must  have  been  locked  in,  some- 
where!" 

In  the  hall,  the  Foreign  Minister  shook  Van  der  Beers' 
hand  with  heart -felt  meaning. 

"I  shall  not  forget  that  little  service,  my  friend!  You 
may  have  a  Legation  for  it,  if  you  wish !  But  I  must  tele- 
phone the  Oranje  Barracks  at  once,  and  have  a  detail  sent 
out  to  arrest  Dr.  Mely  before  he  does  any  harm  with  those 
papers ! " 

"Your  Excellency  need  have  no  uneasiness  upon  that 


140  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

score!  Sir  Francis  Lammerford  was  looking  out  for  him 
as  he  came  down  the  stairs — and  had  three  men  waiting 
outside  in  a  motor-landaulet.  We  will  find  the  Doctor, 
handcuffed,  in  that  landaulet — not  more  than  a  block 
from  here — awaiting  your  further  instructions." 

At  eleven  o'clock,  Editor  Belrode  was  called  to  the  tele- 
phone at  his  club.  A  voice  he  recognized  as  that  of 
Schmidt,  the  oculist,  nervously  gave  him  totally  unex- 
pected instructions. 

"Mely  was  arrested  for  treason  fifteen  minutes  ago. 
They  put  him  in  a  cell  in  the  Oranjc  Barracks,  with  a  guard 
sitting  outside — where  no  political  influence  can  get  him 
out!  You  must  kill  that  story — quick:  Get  word  to  the 
other  editors !  If  a  scrap  of  it  appears  in  print,  it  will  set 
the  police  tracing  out  everyone  connected  with  the  affair." 

A  cautious  inquiry  by  telephone  confirmed  the  report  of 
Mely's  arrest.  Not  in  the  least  knowing  where  he  was  at, 
Belrode  set  about  killing  the  story — which  had  been  in 
type  for  three  days,  waiting  for  the  word  to  release  it.  At 
a  conference  in  Van  der  Beers'  office,  shortly  after  mid- 
night, the  Foreign  Minister  announced  his  intention  of 
arresting  all  the  conspirators  before  morning — but  Lord 
Trevor  put  the  affair  in  a  light  he  had  not  considered. 

"I  say,  old  chap — you  arrest  the  Fraulein  and  her  uncle, 
for  example?  Suppose  she  calmly  admits  giving  those 
papers  to  Mely  an'  says  she  herself  took  them  from  Sir 
Alan's  pocket?  Eh?  Gave  them  to  Mely  to  place  before 
the  Cabinet!  Suppose  those  pro-German  newspapers 
come  out  with  the  whole  story,  rearranged  on  that  basis,  a 
few  hours  after  the  arrest?  Of  course,  they  won't  have  the 
documents  to  back  it  up,  ami  your  being  a  witness  of  what 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         141 

actually  occurred  will  carry  a  good  deal  of  weight — but 
it's  a  story  that  neither  my  Governm'nt  nor  yours  can 
afford  to  have  made  public,  just  now !  It's  too  much  like 
a  match  in  a  powder-magazine!  What  you  can  do,  is 
quietly  hint  to  the  Fraulein  and  her  uncle  that  it  may  be 
just  as  well  to  sell  their  house,  close  out  his  business  inter- 
ests, and  leave  the  country  inside  of  three  days.  Kirsch- 
wasser  also.  That'll  'keep  'em  guessing,'  as  the  Amer- 
icans say — they'll  not  know  how  much  proof  you  have 
against  them  or  whether  you  really  mean  to  have  them  shot 
if  they  don't  take  the  hint.  I  fancy  they'll  go — without  a 
word.  Mely,  of  course,  your  Cabinet  will  deal  with  as 
severely  as  you  like.  You've  proof  enough  to  give  him 
the  limit — but  it  will  be  safer  to  let  it  happen  'way  off 
somewhere — say  in  Batavia.  As  for  O'Meara,  we'll  at- 
tend to  him  ourselves." 

When  the  Minister  had  left  them,  Van  der  Beers  asked: 
"Would  Your  Lordship  mind  telling  me  why  you  oiled 
the  mechanism  of  that  secret  panel  in  Schmidt's  house  so 
carefully?  Did  you  anticipate  concealing  a  force  of  men  in 
there  to  arrest  the  whole  crowd?  Seems  to  me  you'd 
make  a  corking  good  diplomat  yourself,  sir!" 

"My  word,  no!  That  would  have  been  showin'  our 
hand  much  too  clearly,  an'  would  have  marked  the  Van 
Oostens  for  trouble !  I  told  our  friend  who  has  just  left  us 
that  it  would  be  a  good  policy  not  to  interfere  with  Schmidt 
for  the  present,  or  even  let  him  know  he's  under  suspicion. 
If  Wilhelmstrasse  gets  an  impression  that  he  escaped  all 
implication  in  this  affair,  they're  quite  sure  to  use  him  an' 
his  house  again,  very  soon,  d'ye  see?  It's  even  quite  pos- 
sible they  may  kidnap  Sir  Alan  or  some  of  the  Dutch  Cab- 


142  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

inet,  an'  conceal  them  in  that  old  building.  In  that  case, 
don't  you  know,  we've  a  means  of  gettin*  in  without  their 
knowledge  an'  havin'  the  game  in  our  own  hands." 

The  affair  ended  as  it  had  begun — with  O'Meara.  He 
expected  arrest  upon  the  charge  of  complicity  with 
Dr.  Mely,  but,  apparently,  there  was  no  suspicion  of  his 
connection  with  the  affair.  After  a  few  nerve-racking 
days  he  learned  with  astonishment  that  the  Von  Katten- 
bergs  were  selling  their  handsome  residence  and  going 
back  to  Germany.  As  he  had  avoided  the  house  in  the 
fear  of  compromising  them,  he  knew  of  no  reason  for  this 
sudden  move — and  finally  called  there  in  the  evening  for 
an  explanation.  To  his  amazement,  the  butler  took  his 
card  in  a  contemptuous  manner  which  made  him  exceed- 
ingly angry — but  he  was  stunned  when  the  man  came  back 
with  the  message  that  Fraulein  von  Kattenberg  was  not 
at  home  to  men  who  betrayed  their  own  country. 

As  he  walked  slowly  away  from  the  house  where  he  had 
been  for  so  many  months  an  apparently  welcome  guest, 
he  gradually  sensed  the  fact  that  he  had  been  merely  used 
as  an  unscrupulous  tool  to  further  the  underhand  diplo- 
macy of  Wilhelmstrasse — and  that  the  conspirators  felt 
for  him  nothing  but  contempt  while  taking  advantage  of 
the  secrets  he  betrayed  to  them. 

It  seemed  as  if  rumor  had  been  everywhere  blackening 
his  name,  even  among  the  Nederlanders.  When  he  drop- 
ped in  at  his  club,  every  former  acquaintance  cut  him  dead 
— unmistakably.  Even  at  a  little  restaurant  where  he  was 
known,  in  the  Spui  Straat,  the  waitress  served  him  in 
stony  silence,  and  the  cashier  treated  him  as  a  stranger. 


THE  NEUTRALITY  OF  HOLLAND         143 

During  the  day,  it  had  seemed  to  him  that  his  fellow 
attaches  at  the  Legation  spoke  rather  abruptly  upon  sev- 
eral occasions,  but  he  noticed  nothing  else  unusual  until 
he  returned,  about  midnight.  No  one  appeared  to  see 
him  as  he  came  in  and  went  up  to  his  room. 

He  had  been  sitting  there  in  the  dark  for  hah5  an  hour — 
facing  what  he  now  realized  to  be  the  utter  ruin  of  his  ca- 
reer, if  nothing  worse — when  the  door  opened  and  Sir  Alan 
entered,  followed  by  Lord  Trevor  and  Sir  Francis  Lam- 
merford.  They  locked  the  door,  turned  on  the  lights,  and 
seated  themselves.  He  noticed,  subconsciously,  that 
none  of  them  cared  to  smoke.  Presently  Sir  Francis  Lam- 
merford  remarked  in  a  reflective  way: 

"There's  a  difference,  you  know,  between  a  man  who  is 
an  open  rebel  against  the  Governm'nt — riskin'  his  life 
in  a  fair  fight — and  the  sort  of  creature  who  cuts  its  throat 
in  the  dark  while  pretendin'  to  be  its  loyal  servant.  The 
Fenians  gave  us  a  good  bit  of  trouble,  back  in  the  fifties 
and  sixties — but  they  were  men  who  fancied  they  had  a 
grievance  against  England,  an'  were  not  afraid  to  risk 
their  lives  by  showin'  it.  Even  to-day,  the  Irish  who  still 
profess  to  hate  England  are  quite  open  about  it.  In  the 
Orient,  you  know,  one  searches  rather  far  before  he  finds  a 
man  who'll  actually  betray  his  salt.  O'Meara,  if  we  send 
you  back  to  the  Tower,  it's  a  hanging  matter,  as  you  must 
be  aware — an*  the  whole  story  will  have  to  be  known.  It 
will  blacken  your  family  name  for  generations.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  happen  to  die  here  at  The  Hague,  while 
presumably  on  duty  in  the  Legation — why,  there's  nothing 
more  to  be  said.  The  people  here  know  vaguely  that  you 
betrayed  your  country,  but  they  don't  know  the  story  in 


144  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

detail.  If  you  die,  you're  where  you  can  do  no  further 
mischief — and  the  situation  in  Holland  under  present  con- 
ditions is  too  delicate  to  risk  dangerous  complications  by 
allowing  the  facts  of  this  affair  to  leak  out." 

The  man's  throat  was  horribly  dry.  He  kept  moisten- 
ing his  lips  with  the  tip  of  his  tongue — ^looking  from  their 
stern  faces  to  the  window  and  back  again — realizing  that, 
incredible  as  it  seemed,  he  was  going  to  die — very  soon. 
He  had  determined  while  sitting  there  in  the  dark  that  he 
would  go  to  America,  where  nobody  knew  him — where  he 
would  be  received  as  if  nothing  had  happeaed.  But  he 
had  forgotten  what  sort  of  men  these  were  whom  he  had 
betrayed.  He  would  never  see  America.  He  would  never 
see  another  sunrise.  For  a  moment,  he  thought,  wildly, 
of  begging  for  at  least  that  privilege;  then  some  remnant 
of  the  courage  which  had  been  that  of  his  Fenian  ancestors 
made  him  straighten  up  in  his  chair. 

"You — you  have  some  particular  way  in  mind — Sir  Fran- 
cis?" he  asked. 

Lammerford  took  a  small  capsule  from  his  pocket  and 
soberly  handed  it  to  the  doomed  man. 

"  It's  a  matter  of  scarcely  three  seconds — after  the  gela- 
tine dissolves.  Er — cyanide,  you  know." 

O'Meara  put  the  capsule  between  his  lips  and  man- 
aged to  swallow  it.  For  a  moment  he  sat  there  looking  at 
them  while  the  horror  deepened  in  his  eyes.  Then  there 
was  a  convulsive  shudder.  The  body  sagged  down  in  the 
chair. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    GREATER    PLOT 

IN  THE  Rue  Vignon,  up  back  of  the  Madeleine,  a 
small  wrought-iron  sign  projects  over  the  narrow 
entrance  of  a  restaurant  which  has  become  fa- 
mous during  the  last  few  years — particularly  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  The  quaint  old  French  letters 
inform  passers-by  that  it  is  the  Cafe  des  Trois  Gascons — 
the  name  having  come  down  from  a  small  hostelry  in  the 
fields  outside  the  walls  of  Old  Paris  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Inside,  after  one  has  gone  some  twenty  paces  and 
passed  the  cage  where  the  stout  proprietress  sits,  the  pas- 
sage opens  into  a  large  room  with  a  mezzanine  balcony, 
lighted  during  the  day  by  a  skylight  over  the  centre.  To- 
day the  place  is  a  popular  rendezvous  for  officers  on  weekly 
furlough  from  the  trenches — and  for  war  correspondents, 
Government  officials,  and  the  sprinkling  of  outside  civ- 
ilians who  are  permitted  by  the  police  to  remain  in  Paris 
for  legitimate  purposes. 

The  waiters,  who  formerly  knew  and  were  known  to 
most  of  the  patrons,  are  in  shallow  graves  back  of  the  fir- 
ing line  or  in  the  trenches  around  Verdun  killing  their 
daily  quota  of  boches.  Their  places  are  filled  in  the  Cafe  des 
Trois  Gascons  by  girls  in  short  black  skirts,  white  aprons 
and  caps — girls  between  eighteen  and  twenty-five,  who 
possess  the  wit  to  be  entertaining,  as  they  serve,  and  do 

145 


146  JTHE  UNSEEN  HAND 

not  underestimate  the  responsibility  which  rests  upon 
every  woman  of  France  to  provide  the  nation  with  its 
soldiers  of  the  future. 

At  a  corner  table,  one  evening,  were  four  officers  who 
had  come  down  from  the  front  on  a  week's  furlough — three 
of  them  Irish  and  the  other  a  Gordon  Highlander.  They 
were  in  high  spirits — making  the  most  of  their  brief  res- 
pite from  the  soul-deadening  trench-life.  They  joked 
with  Marie,  their  waitress,  exchanged  anecdotes  of  va- 
rious engagements,  and  discussed  the  entertainments  to  be 
seen  in  Paris,  with  the  absorbing  interest  of  men  who  do 
not  know  whether  to-night's  comedy  or  opera  may  be 
their  last.  Presently  two  more  Irish  officers  came  in  with 
three  ladies  and  a  well-known  member  of  the  Chamber — 
seating  themselves  at  a  near-by  table  and  bowing  to  the 
group  in  the  corner  as  Marie  came  in  from  the  kitchen 
with  a  pdte  and  four  "bocks." 

For  a  moment  or  two  she  stood  by  the  corner  table, 
easily  holding  her  own  in  the  duel  of  repartee;  then  she 
moved  on  to  take  the  order  of  a  couple  who  had  just  en- 
tered the  room.  Subconsciously,  however,  she  was  no- 
ticing a  subtle  change  in  the  talk  among  the  Irish  offi- 
cers. As  soon  as  she  left  them  the  voices  of  at  least  two 
dropped  to  a  more  confidential  tone;  they  appeared  to  be 
discussing  something  which  they  preferred  not  having 
overheard. 

For  one  memorable  year  Marie  had  lived  in  London,  as 
the  assistant  of  a  Bond  Street  modiste,  and  had  picked  up 
enough  English  to  follow  any  ordinary  conversation.  By 
occasional  words  that  reached  her  from  the  table  in  the  cor- 
ner she  sensed  the  fact  that  the  officers  were  referring  to 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  147 

some  undertaking  in  which  a  number  of  their  fellow  coun- 
trymen were  interested — some  approaching  day  upon 
which  certain  plans  would  be  carried  out  with  the  cooper- 
ation of  all. 

There  was  nothing  said  which  indicated  a  treasonable 
element  in  whatever  it  was  they  were  planning;  in  fact,  it 
was  far  more  likely  to  be  some  preliminary  concentration 
for  a  summer  offensive  against  the  German  lines.  After 
some  consideration  she  decided  that  what  little  she  had 
overheard  could  have  no  other  application,  and  almost 
forgot  the  intensely  patriotic  incentive  which  prompted 
her  to  listen  so  closely — almost,  but  not  entirely.  After 
a  while,  passing  the  table  of  the  Deputy,  Henri  Couramont, 
she  noticed  that  he  was  talking  in  much  the  same  confiden- 
tial manner  to  one  of  the  officers  at  his  table — which  also 
bore  out  the  supposition  of  an  impending  army  campaign. 

When  Couramont  and  his  party  left  the  Cafe  des  Trois 
Gascons,  the  group  of  Irish  officers  were  not  long  after 
them.  All  appeared  to  be  well  known — the  occasional 
gendarmes  saluting  when  their  faces  were  recognized. 
Three  hours  later  Deputy  Couramont  came  walking  along 
through  the  arcades  of  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  with  Captain  Tim 
Delaney,  who  had  followed  him  from  the  cafe.  As  they 
reached  the  Rue  Castiglione,  the  light  from  an  arc-lamp 
shone  down  upon  their  faces  with  a  bluish-green  reflec- 
tion that  distinctly  revealed  every  line  and  feature  to  a  tall 
man  in  evening  clothes  who  was  coming  down  the  other 
arcade  from  the  Place  Vendome.  At  first  he  noticed  them 
in  merely  a  casual  way  as  they  stopped  for  a  second  or  two 
before  crossing  to  the  Hotel  Continental;  then  a  fleeting 
expression  upon  the  Deputy's  face  held  his  attention  suffi- 


148  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ciently  to  make  him  study  the  man  closely.  He  recognized 
both  of  them  in  the  second  glance,  but  the  expression  he 
had  caught  reminded  him  of  someone  who  was  not  Coura- 
mont,  some  man  whom  he  couldn't  remember  to  have  seen 
for  years,  a  person  whose  name  and  identity  escaped  him, 
spur  his  memory  as  he  might. 

His  mind  was  still  occupied  with  the  evasive  resembl- 
ance when  he  dropped  in  at  the  Cafe  Sylvain  and  found 
there  Gaston  de  Marais,  of  the  Corps  Diplomatique.  In 
the  years  preceding  the  war  De  Marais  and  Sir  Francis 
Lammerford  had  been  diplomatic  adversaries,  but  each  re- 
spected the  other's  ability,  and  their  interests  were  now 
identical,  at  least  until  the  final  readjustment  of  European 
boundary  lines.  As  Sir  Francis  had  been  in  Russia  for 
several  months — had  been  twice  reported  dead — the 
Frenchman  was  genuinely  pleased  to  see  him. 

"My  dear  friend!  Is  it  really  thou?  Come!  This  is 
a  happy  meeting!  We  will  exchange  experiences — with 
champagne  to  stimulate  the  memory — eh?" 

For  a  while  they  chatted  of  various  campaigns  and  the 
political  undercurrents  which,  more  than  the  taking  or 
losing  of  trenches,  moved  the  warring  nations  this  way 
and  that  toward  the  final  showdown  upon  which  a  return 
to  peaceful  life  would  be  possible.  After  a  while,  Lammer- 
ford casually  mentioned  having  seen  the  Deputy,  Henri 
Couramont. 

"The  man  appears  to  be  gaining  in  political  strength 
if  I'm  a  judge  of  stray  gossip  and  the  manner  of  people  to- 
ward him." 

"Ah — ouil  Couramont 's  leaders  in  the  Courier  du 
Matin  have  been  most  daring;  he  has  fought  seven  duels 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  149 

in  consequence.  He  is  a  man  to  be  reckoned  with,  -  and 
the  Cabinet  are  well  aware  of  the  fact — they  even  men- 
tioned him  for  the  Pastes  el  Telegraphes  portfolio." 

"Let's  see:  lie  was  from  the  Cote  d'Or,  wasn't  he — • 
originally?" 

"  I  thought  it  was  Haute-Sdone — pretty  well  over  toward 
the  Rhine  valley,  at  that.  Was  he  not  running  a  small 
weekly  sheet  at  Belfort  before  he  came  to  Paris — eighteen 
years  ago?  It  is  said  he  gets  his  extreme  hatred  of  the 
boche  from  having  lived  within  a  stone's  throw  of  him  so 
long." 

"Seems  pretty  thick  with  the  English  and  Irish  offi- 
cers!" 

"Ah!  That  makes  itself  to  be  understood,  my  friend. 
Officers  are  not  permitted  to  say  too  much,  you  know; — 
but  one  may  smile,  affirmatively,  when  another  makes  a 
tentative  statement  which  is  known  to  be  true.  One  hears 
that  much  of  Couramont's  accurate  information  concern- 
ing matters  at  the  front  comes  from  his  frequent  dejeuners 
with  people  of  that  sort.  And,  besides,  one  hears  that 
his  mother  was  the  daughter  of  an  Irish  baronet,  which 
makes  the  accounting  for  his  excellent  English — as  his 
early  years  on  the  German  border  gave  him  German  which 
is  practically  without  accent." 

Lammerford's  mind  was  flashing  from  one  half -remem- 
bered face  to  another — groping,  considering,  fitting  to- 
gether the  various  points  in  this  gossip  concerning  the  Dep- 
uty and  trying  to  construct  inferences  that  would  prove  up. 

"There's  no  question  as  to  his  patriotism,  I  suppose? 
No  chance  of  his  having  imbibed  Prussian  ideas  from  hav- 
ing lived  so  long  in  close  touch  with  them?" 


150  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Pouf !  You  should  hear  him  speak  of  the  boche,  my 
friend!  He  spent  a  day  last  month  in  the  trenches  at 
Verdun — and  sat  in  a  puddle  of  water  for  hours,  potting 
at  every  German  head  he  could  see!  One  hears  that  he 
got  two  of  them — the  man  is  an  artist  with  rifle  or  pistol!" 

"Hmph!  From  what  you  say,  De  Marais,  he  appears 
to  be  one  of  those  tried  and  proved  individuals  to  whom  no 
possible  suspicion  can  attach?  Eh?" 

"It  makes  itself  obvious  that  one's  actions  influence  the 
opinions  of  others  more  than  the  spoken  word !  The  man 
has  given  proof,  at  the  risk  of  his  life — and  more  than 
once!  Is  it  that  you  have  something  in  mind  concerning 
this  Couramont,  mon  ami?" 

"  No,  there's  nothing  upon  which  I  could  base  a  frag- 
ment of  suspicion  against  him.  Only — when  you  men- 
tioned his  early  years  upon  the  German  border,  I  thought 
of  the  many  instances  which  show  the  extent  to  which  a 
Prussian  will  risk  his  life,  unhesitatingly,  if,  at  some  crucial 
moment,  he  may  find  himself  in  position  to  do  the  one  vi- 
tally important  thing  for  his  Government — the  one  thing 
impossible  were  he  known  to  be  German.  With  Coura- 
mont, as  you  say,  one  has  proofs  enough  as  to  where  his 
sympathies  lie — and  he's  hah*  English,  or  Irish,  so  that 
removes  even  the  possibility  of  any  German  taint  in  his 
blood,  n'est  ce  pas  ?  Well" — yawning  slightly — "I've  had 
but  six  hours'  sleep  in  two  days.  I  shall  have  to  make 
some  of  it  up.  You  must  tell  me  where  I  may  find  you 
most  frequently — I  may  be  in  Paris  for  a  week  or  so." 

Several  years  before,  Sir  George  Trevor  had  maintained 
by  the  year  a  four-room  apartment  in  the  Faubourg  St. 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  151 

Honore  which,  upon  his  elevation  to  the  British  Peerage,  he 
had  turned  over  to  Sir  Francis  Lammerford — the  place 
being  looked  after,  in  his  absence,  by  a  very  attractive 
widow  of  thirty-five  who,  after  laying  by  a  comfortable 
dot,  was  shrewd  enough  to  retain  her  personal  liberty  and 
add  to  her  fortune  by  acting  as  concierge  for  the  five 
buildings  owned  by  M.  Chartrain,  the  modiste  of  the  Rue 
de  la  Paix.  Although  just  over  fifty,  her  English  tenant — 
whose  graying  temples  only  accented  the  freshness  of  his 
complexion  and  physical  activity — could  have  married 
her  for  the  asking.  But — as  she  was  sensible  enough  to 
realize — he  might  as  easily  have  had  more  than  one  titled 
beauty  in  London  had  he  cared  for  settled  family  life. 
Which  explains  the  sort  of  care  given  his  belongings  in 
Paris  during  his  absence,  and  the  personal  attention  which 
enveloped  him  with  a  peculiarly  comfortable  warmth  when 
he  was  in  residence  at  the  little  apartment  in  the  Faubourg 
St.  Honore.  Returning  to  it  after  his  chat  with  De  Marais 
he  found  Mme.  Fauvette,  in  a  dainty  negligee,  arranging 
upon  one  of  the  smaller  tables  a  silver  tray  with  fruit, 
little  cakes,  and  wine  glasses — while,  just  underneath, 
stood  a  cooler  in  which  two  quarts  of  dry  champagne  were 
packed  in  ice. 

"  My sieu'  le  Chevalier  has  been  away  from  Paris  a  long 
time,  and  has  doubtless  been  travelling  constantly;  he 
will  be  ires  fatigue  after  his  journey !  Me,  I  do  not  know 
of  his  arrival  until  I  ascend,  a  dix  heures,  to  close  the  win- 
dow— and  behold  the  portmanteau  of  M'sieu!  So — 
toila!  One  makes  the  little  celebration,  obviously!" 
Embracing  her  with  a  friendly  warmth  which  belied  his 
years  and  brought  the  hot  blood  to  her  cheeks,  he  mo- 


152  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

tioned  her  to  the  cushion-piled  divan  in  one  corner  while 
he  rummaged  in  a  closet  for  the  Dimitrino  cigarettes. 

"Ah!  It  is  like  coming  home,  Julie!  And  you  begin 
by  spoiling  me,  as  usual!  Me,  I  am  just  from  the  Sylvain, 
so  the  cakes  must  wait  until  I  have  the  appetite,  but  the 
champagne  we'll  have  while  you  tell  me  about  yourself 
since  I  left.  Not  married  yet?  Well,  for  that,  the  Saints 
be  praised !  When  you  provide  another  husband  for  your- 
self, I  must  change  my  pied-a-terre." 

Had  her  warm  heart  been  too  unruly  for  her  cool  Pa- 
risian brain — which  had  ever  an  eye  to  material  advance- 
ment— Madame  Julie  Fauvette  might  easily  have  made 
for  herself  a  most  excellent  match.  She  was  in  her  prime 
rather  better  than  good-looking — with  the  education 
many  a  Parisienne  obtains  through  careful  perusal  of 
first-class  weekly  and  monthly  periodicals,  and  a  habit  of 
close  observation  which  gave  her  a  shrewd  knowledge  of 
human  nature — a  fund  of  information  concerning  those  in 
the  public  eye  which  Lammerford  had  found  exceedingly 
valuable  upon  more  than  one  occasion.  With  a  skill  of 
which  she  was  probably  unconscious,  he  gave  the  con- 
versation a  slant  toward  Government  people — leading 
her  around  to  what  might  have  been  called  an  "appre- 
ciation" of  the  Deputy,  Henri  Couramont,  whose  polit- 
ical ability  she  frankly  admitted  but  whose  influence  in 
the  Chamber  had  appeared  to  have,  sometimes,  an  ul- 
terior motive  which  she  couldn't  puzzle  out.  Wishing  to 
emphasize  some  peculiar  quality,  which  she  felt  without 
being  able  to  describe,  she  descended  to  her  own  quarters 
for  a  recent  copy  of  Le  Monde  Illustre  which  contained  an 
excellent  half-tone  print  of  the  man. 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  155 

After  they  had  discussed  it  for  a  while,  she  looked  around 
the  apartment  to  make  sure  that  everything  had  been  pro- 
vided for  his  comfort — then  left  him.  Getting  into  paja- 
mas and  lighting  a  cigar,  Lammerford  went  back  to  his 
reading  table  for  another  glance  at  Couramont's  portrait 
in  the  magazine.  It  was  an  excellent  one — reproduced 
from  a  recent  photograph — depicting  the  well-known 
editor  and  politician  as  he  appeared  on  the  street.  The 
pointed  beard  was  of  sparse  growth,  revealing  the  lines  of 
jaw  and  chin — the  features,  line  for  line,  as  he  had  seen 
them  earlier  in  the  evening.  But  the  hauntingly  familiar 
expression — due,  possibly,  to  the  bluish-green  light  from 
the  arc-lamp — was  lacking. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  British  Foreign  Office,  Lammer- 
ford's  memory  for  names,  past  occurrences,  and  the  faces 
of  people  met  but  once  or  twice  was  almost  as  marvelous 
as  that  of  II  Cavaliere  Scarpia — the  old  Italian  eagle  of 
diplomacy.  It  was  really  a  product  of  painstaking  system 
by  which  he  recorded,  mentally,  such  impressions  as  he 
wished  to  retain  for  future  use — and  it  was  frequently 
strengthened  by  inducing  mental  stimulation  of  subcon- 
scious impressions  which  had  seemed  of  no  importance  at 
the  time.  One  of  his  methods  for  producing  a  species  of 
hypnosis  in  which  his  brain  clarified  and  reproduced  long- 
forgotten  incidents  was  the  listening  to  classic  music  while 
in  a  condition  of  complete  relaxation.  In  the  manor  house 
of  his  Cornwall  estate — in  both  his  Paris  and  London 
apartments — he  had  American  phonographs  of  the  latest, 
most  perfect  type,  with  a  collection  which  included  hun- 
dreds of  the  best  orchestra  records.  After  a  final  study  of 
the  Deputy's  face  he  turned  out  the  lights,  placed  the 


154  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Scala"  record  of  the  Tristan  and  Isolde  prelude  in  the 
machine,  then  stretched  himself  in  the  Morris  chair  with 
his  cigar.  For  an  hour  he  played  one  record  after  another 
in  the  dark — but  the  forgotten  resemblance  obstinately 
remained  just  beyond  his  mental  vision.  He  gained  this 
much,  however,  as  a  result  of  his  concentration — an  idea 
as  to  how  he  might  obtain  some  definite  clue  by  purely 
mechanical  means. 

In  his  talks  with  De  Marais  and  Julie  Fauvette,  the 
fact  seemed  to  have  been  established  that  Couramont 
had  come  to  Paris,  as  a  permanent  resident,  just  eighteen 
years  before.  Certain  occurrences  mentioned  by  each 
fixed  the  time  without  much  question.  So  that,  if  the  man 
had  been  elsewhere  publicly  active,  it  would  have  been 
prior  to  that  time — say  nineteen  or  twenty  years  before. 
In  the  days  when  illustrated  periodicals  depended  entirely 
upon  wood-engraving,  portrait  wood-cuts  were  usually  so 
composite  in  their  printed  effect  that  establishing  a  per- 
son's identity  by  means  of  one  would  have  been  gross  in- 
justice to  the  individual.  But  between  1888  and  1892 
photo-engraving  was  perfected  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  prints  became  reliable.  A  portrait  "half-tone"  in 
a  magazine  of  1894-5,  for  example,  would  accurately 
represent  the  man  as  he  then  looked.  This  was  good 
theory  as  far  as  it  went — it  pointed  the  direction  in 
which  research  might  prove  successful — but  to  make  a 
thorough  investigation  along  those  lines  bulked  as  another 
"labor  of  Hercules."  However,  there  are  short  cuts  in 
the  working  out  of  every  theory. 

Sir  Francis  knew  that  Couramont's  early  life  was  a 
matter  of  little  or  no  interest  to  him  if  it  had  been  passed 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  155 

in  France.  If,  however,  it  should  prove  to  have  been 
spent  in  Germany  or  Austria?  Ah!  Here  was  the  short 
cut  in  his  theoretic  reasoning.  If  a  man  achieves  prom- 
inence in  any  German  city,  it's  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
he  will  spend  more  or  less  time  in  Berlin.  If  his  person- 
ality stands  out  from  the  mass  in  Berlin,  even  for  a  brief 
period,  it  is  morally  certain  that  one  of  the  great  illustrated 
weeklies  will  reproduce  his  first  obtainable  photograph. 
And  the  greatest  of  these  in  size  and  popularity  is  the 
lUustrirte  Zeitung. 

At  ten  in  the  morning,  after  a  dejeuner  prepared  by  Ma- 
dame Fauvette  herself,  Lammerford  walked  down  to  the 
old  Palais  Mazarin  and  made  out  a  "bulletin"  of  the  vol- 
umes he  wanted  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  He  had 
taken  with  him  the  copy  of  Le  Monde  Illustre  in  which 
Couramont's  portrait  appeared,  entering  it  on  his  "bulle- 
tin" as  personal  property  which  he  might  afterward 
carry  out  of  the  building.  For  over  an  hour  he  rapidly 
turned  page  after  page  of  the  big  volumes,  dismissing 
each  portrait  "half-tone"  with  a  single  glance  as  he  passed 
it.  Then — in  the  fifth  volume — his  hand  paused.  At 
the  head  of  a  paragraph  recording  a  scandal  which  had 
been  the  talk  of  Berlin  society  for  a  week  or  more,  was  the 
picture  of  a  young  captain  in  one  of  the  uhlan  regiments. 
Hauptman  Heinrich  Schmaltz  had,  by  his  good  manners 
and  soldierly  appearance,  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
imperial  family — being  given  a  very  desirable  command 
at  the  Schloss.  After  a  few  months  he  was  frequently 
ceen  with  a  handsome  Viennese  countess  who  had  been 
five  years  married  but  detested  her  husband.  The  count 
heard  rumors  and  came  to  Berlin;  there  was  a  duel  in 


156  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

which  the  count  was  killed.  Captain  Schmaltz  was 
sent  to  America  on  a  mission  promptly  arranged  with 
Wilhelmstrasse,  and  the  countess  disappeared  at  the  same 
time.  The  incident  and  the  gossip  came  back  to  Lammer- 
ford  as  he  read  the  paragraph.  So  far  as  he  knew  Berlin 
never  heard  of  the  young  captain  again.  Yet  the  ex- 
pression he  had  noticed  upon  Couramont's  face  had  been 
identical  with  the  one  caught  in  a  glimpse  of  Captain 
Schmaltz  as  he  stood  under  one  of  the  arched  entrances  of 
the  Schloss  in  Berlin,  nineteen  years  before — with  the  light 
from  one  of  the  park  lamps  falling  upon  his  head  and 
sharply  outlining  it  against  the  deep  shadow  under  the 
arch  behind  him. 

Lammerford  placed  the  two  "half-tones"  side  by  side. 
That  of  the  young  captain  showed  merely  a  small  mous- 
tache, while  the  Deputy  wore  a  thin  Van  Dyke — but  the 
lines  of  the  face,  the  prominent  chin  and  forehead,  the 
eyes,  the  whole  expression,  were  unmistakable.  The 
popular  leader  of  the  French  Chamber — supposed  bit- 
terly to  detest  everything  German — was,  in  fact,  Hein- 
rich  Schmaltz — formerly  captain  in  a  Berlin  regiment  of 
ulilans,  and  in  the  service  of  WUhelmstrasse  at  the 
time  he  disappeared.  For  perhaps  the  thousandth  time 
Sir  Francis  knew  that  his  sense  of  intuition  had  been 
vindicated — that  what  seemed  an  absurdly  groundless 
suspicion  had  been  stimulated  by  that  inner  conscious- 
ness of  his  which  automatically  recorded  impressions  and 
stored  them  up  for  future  use.  Making  a  memoran- 
dum of  the  volume  and  page  numbers  in  the  big  German 
weekly,  he  left  the  library,  and  went  back  to  his  apart- 
ment with  Madame  Julie's  Monde  Illustre. 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  157 

To  suppose  that  Schmaltz,  or  Couramont,  had 
reached  his  present  standing  in  the  political  world  of 
Paris  with  any  real  hatred  of  the  boche  such  as  he  pro- 
fessed, was  manifestly  absurd.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
seemed  equally  so  to  assume  that  Wilhelmstrasse  had 
sent  him  into  France  nineteen  years  before  with  the  object 
of  working  up  to  such  a  position  against  some  unforeseen 
emergency  where  it  would  be  of  immense  strategic  value 
to  the  German  War  Staff.  And  yet — proof  is  piling  up 
that  Germany  has  been  doing  exactly  that  for  the  past 
quarter-century  with  the  one  great  object  in  mind — 
world  domination — a  crushing  out  of  other  Governments 
by  relentless  system  and  overpowering  force. 

In  the  afternoon  Sir  Francis  went  down  to  the  He  de 
la  Cite  and  called  upon  his  old  acquaintance,  Lepine,  at 
the  Prefecture.  Without  implying  that  he  was  interested 
in  one  more  than  others  he  asked  for  brief  resumes  of  the 
careers  of  certain  French  politicians — including  the  Cabi- 
net ministers,  two  Senators  and  three  Deputies.  Know- 
ing Lammerford  to  be  associated  with  the  British  Foreign 
Office,  it  was — to  Monsieur  Lepine — a  perfectly  natural 
inquiry.  Since  the  conference  of  the  Allies,  at  which  it 
was  agreed  that  they  should  act  in  concert  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war,  each  of  the  chancelleries  had  been 
vitally  interested  in  the  membership  of  the  other  Govern- 
ments. A  rather  unusual  harmony  prevailed — but,  under 
the  si»face,  there  was  necessarily  a  close  observation  of 
opinions  and  actions  among  Government  officials,  every- 
where, in  order  that  anything  which  seemed  to  threaten 
this  harmony  might  be  promptly  dealt  with. 

With  the  vast  amount  of  minute  information  at  his 


158  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

disposal,  Lepine  was  able  to  give  an  accurate  account  of 
what  each  man's  private  life  had  been,  as  well  as  that 
recorded  in  the  daily  prints.  If  anything,  Lammerford 
seemed  less  interested  in  Henri  Couramont's  biography 
than  in  those  of  more  prominent  men — the  Prefect  couldn't 
decide  whether  his  friend's  request  had  been  actually  what 
it  appeared  on  the  surface,  or  not.  But  Sir  Francis  left  the 
Boulevard  du  Palais  with  data  concerning  the  Deputy 
which  gave  him  more  than  one  clue  as  to  where  he  might 
look  for  evidence  of  nefarious  activities.  For  one  thing, 
he  learned  that  Mile.  Obregon,  of  the  Folies  Bergere — said 
to  be  Couramont's  bien  aimee — was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Mrs.  Boyle  Fitzpatrick,  wife  of  a  captain  in  one  of  the  Irish 
regiments,  and  that  the  four  dined  frequently  with  other 
officers  and  their  wives  at  the  Cafe  des  Trois  Gascons  in 
the  Rue  Vignon. 

Lammerford  had  taken  a  table  at  the  Trois  Gascons 
and  was  finishing  his  soup  when  they  arrived  that  even- 
ing. While  studying  the  party  in  casual  glances  he  was 
conscious  that  his  pretty  waitress  looked  at  him  rather  in- 
tently as  she  brought  in  his  meat  course.  The  only  other 
diners  in  their  vicinity  were  a  group  of  Irish  officers — too 
much  occupied  with  their  own  conversation  to  overhear 
anything  said  in  guarded  tones.  After  glancing  at  them  to 
estimate  how  far  her  voice  might  carry,  she  leaned  over 
the  handsome  Englishman,  arranging  his  dishes. 

"M'sieu*  does  not,  then,  remember  me?  Behold — ' 
I  am  that  Marie  Latour  whom  les  betes  apaches  were  drag- 
ging up  the  Rue  Pierre  Sarazin  from  the  BouV  Mich1  one 
night,  three  years  ago — when  le  bon  M'sieu'  anglais 
knocked  them  down,  and  shot  the  one  who  drew  a  knife!" 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  159 

"Ma  foi  !  One  has  the  great  pleasure  in  seeing  thee 
again,  ma  fiUe  !  In  the  darkness  of  little  streets  it  makes 
itself  very  difficult  to  see  a  face  distinctly.  One  remem- 
bers we  had  a  'bock'  in  one  of  the  Boid '  M ich'  cafes,  to  re- 
store thy  nerfs,  and  that  one  accompanied  thee  to  thy 
apartment,  for  safety,  afterward.  My  affairs  made  it 
necessary  that  I  should  depart  from  Paris  next  morning, 
so  I  had  but  the  little  souvenir  of  cerise  ribbon  to  remind 
me  of  the  adventure.  You  have  now  a  husband — 
oui?" 

"Ah,  non — m'sieu'!  For  two  months  only!  He  was 
killed  at  the  Marne.  For  a  year,  before,  I  was  in  your 
big  foggy  London — where  one  acquires  the  anglais  with 
much  labor;  then  I  returned,  before  the  war.  M'sieu' 
is  perhaps  of  the  Corps  Diplomatique  ?" 

"And  why  think  you  that  ma  belle  ?" 

"Because  one  observes  that  M'sieu'  came  out  of  the  Pre- 
fecture this  afternoon,  and  spoke  to  M'sieu'  de  Marais 
on  the  Pont  Neuf .  M  'sieu'  has  the  bearing  of  un  soldat; 
yet  he  is  never  in  uniform.  One  observes  little  things  in 
a  place  like  this,  concerning  which  it  is  desirable  to  speak 
with  someone  who  is  of  the  Government.  Oui  ?" 

Lammerford  was  apparently  paying  more  attention  to 
his  dinner  than  to  the  pretty  waitress. 

"Parexemple?" 

"Behold  the  Irish  officers  at  the  corner  table!  They 
talk  of  the  trenches — the  Opera,  the  amusements  of  Paris 
— when  one  is  within  hearing.  The  moment  one  is  at  a 
little  distance  they  mumble  among  themselves  of  other 
matters." 

"Possibly  orders  for  a  new  'offensive' — which  must  not 


160  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

be  known!  Regimental  gossip  of  their  own — affairs  of 
the  army  in  general,  mafitte  /" 

"  Oui — oui — one  thinks  of  all  those  things.  They  do  not 
altogether  explain.  Par  exemple,  M'sieu'  Couramont,  the 
Deputy,  dines  frequently  with  some  of  then-  party,  and 
ladies — as  he  does  this  evening.  Those  at  each  table  bow 
to  the  others — also  to  people  in  different  parts  of  the  caba- 
ret. When  they  leave  here,  most  of  the  Irish  officers  go 
by  different  streets  to  the  apartment  of  M'sieu'  le  Capi- 
taine  Fitzpatrick,  where  they  play  at  cards  until  midnight. 
M'sieu'  Couramont  I  have  three  times  seen  there  with  them. 
While  they  play,  it  is  evident  they  discuss  other  matters  of 
great  importance.  Me — I  am  chez  moi  au  cinquieme,  in 
the  rear  of  that  house  which  is  on  the  other  street.  From 
my  window  one  looks  into  those  of  M.  le  Capitaine,  one 
floor  below,  across  the  court.  Upon  four  evenings  of  the 
week  I  leave  Les  Trois  Gascons  a  dix  heures;  upon  the 
other  three  I  am  here  earlier  and  leave  before  the  dinner." 

"H-m-m — you  have  not  fear  of  me,  mafitte  ?" 

"But  no,  M'sieu'  le  Chevalier  I  Pourquoi?  It  is  that 
you  rescued  me,  that  time!  It  is  that  you  are  gentil- 
homme!" 

"Pestel  It  is  not  that  which  I  meant!  You  believe 
that,  me,  I  have  the  love  of  France — the  love  of  my  Eng- 
land? That  I  despise  and  am  ever  suspicious  of  le  boche  ?  " 

"Ah!  Oui  I  Oui,  m'sieu  !  Ma  foi  I — it  is  of  a  cer- 
tainty—that!" 

"  Tres  Hen!  Then — you  will  permit  that  I  accompany 
thee  to  thy  apartment  when  thou  lea  vest — at  ten  o'clock?  " 

"But  certainly,  M'sieu'!  It  is  my  wish!  Me — I  am 
but  a  girl  who  knows  little  of  State  affairs — mais  une  JUle 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  161 

de  La  France,  tout  le  temps.  Perhaps  I  am  foolish,  that  I 
watch  the  officers  so  closely  and  suspect — ah,  one  does  not 
know  what  to  suspect  in  such  times!  At  least  one  does 
no  harm  to  be  alert." 

She  met  him  later,  at  a  corner  three  blocks  away,  and 
they  rode  in  a  taxi  to  her  apartment.  As  she  had  her  own 
keys,  there  was  no  occasion  to  disturb  the  concierge; 
they  climbed  the  five  flights  of  stairs  in  silence  and  bolted 
her  outer  door  after  entering  the  suite.  In  order  that  no 
attention  might  be  directed  their  way  from  the  apartment 
across  the  court,  she  didn't  turn  on  a  single  electric.  Mo- 
tioning him  to  an  easy  chair  by  the  window,  she  fetched 
her  opera  glasses  and  perched  herself  upon  the  broad  arm 
of  it. 

The  night  had  proved  warmer  than  usual,  so  that  all 
three  windows  of  Captain  Fitzpatrick's  apartment  were 
open.  Through  a  passage  they  could  see  the  card-players 
in  a  farther  salon,  but  men  and  women  drifted  back  to 
the  living  room  at  the  rear,  from  time  to  time  examining 
pictures  upon  the  wall,  books  and  curios  upon  the  table, 
or  refreshing  themselves  from  a  cellaret  in  one  corner.  As 
Lammerford  focussed  the  opera  glasses,  a  group  of  three 
were  examining  one  of  the  paintings,  and  called  to  Fitz- 
patrick  in  the  other  room: 

"I  say,  old  chap!  Is  this  the  picture  you  did  on  the 
Meuse?" 

"Aye — an'  I  can  assure  you  I've  painted  under  more 
favorable  conditions!  We'd  a  bomb-proof  dug  from 
clay  in  front  of  the  trench,  with  a -floor  of  misfit  planking 
about  six  inches  off  the  ground.  It  was  right  enough  in 
good  weather — but  after  a  day's  rain,  our  feet  were  always 


162  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

in  the  water.  To  get  a  decent  light,  I  had  my  easel  stuck 
up  at  the  trench-opening — had  a  narrow  escape,  once  or 
twice,  before  I  finished  the  picture.  Y'see  that  bit  of  a 
patch  on  the  canvas,  where  the  color  is  laid  on  thick 
with  a  palette-knife?  That  was  done  by  a  fragment  of 
shrapnel  which  missed  my  forehead  by  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  an'  made  an  awful  hole  in  Tommy  O'Brien,  just  be- 
yond me,  in  the  bomb-proof.  It  was  two  days  before  we 
could  get  his  body  to  the  rear." 

"I  see  you've  a  bunch  of  new  records!  Taking  them  up 
with  you  on  Thursday?" 

"Aye — as  far  as  commissary -headquarters.  Pat  O'Don- 
nel  is  the  last  of  our  crowd  to  be  stuck  with  trench-detail; 
we  '11  have  him  back  of  the  lines  next  week.  Then  every 
man  will  be  available  when  the  time  comes — 

"Faith,  Boyle — mind  the  post!  One  never  knows  how 
far  a  voice  may  carry,  ye  know!" 

"True  for  you,  Phaidrig!  But  there's  no  harm  done. 
*Tis  understood  that  we  talk  a  bit  among  ourselves  on 
what  we  hear  of  the  Staff  plans,  an'  everyone  knows 
there'll  be  somethin'  afoot  before  long." 

For  an  hour  Lammerford  and  Marie  Latour  caught  no 
remarks  from  the  other  apartment  which  might  be  con- 
strued as  having  a  double  meaning.  Then  Couramont 
came  into  the  rear  room  with  one  of  the  women  for  a  glass  of 
wine.  They  were  chatting  upon  commonplace  topics,  but 
in  the  midst  of  it  Sir  Francis  noticed  her  lips  moving  in  an 
undertone.  Having  had  a  good  deal  of  practice  in  lip- 
reading,  he  had  little  difficulty  in  understanding  the  ques- 
tion she  asked:  "When  is  it  to  be,  mon  ami  ?"  But  as  the 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  163 

Deputy  was  standing  with  his  back  to  the  window,  the 
watchers  could  make  nothing  of  his  answer.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments the  party  broke  up — and  Marie  whispered : 
"Is  it  that  some  danger  threatens  France,  m'sieu'?" 
"Oui,  ma  belle  I  One  which  is  serious,  of  a  certainty! 
And  it's  a  question  whether  one  may  discover  the  details 
in  time  to  kill  the  whole  of  it.  Me — I  know,  now,  of  a 
dozen  people  who  must  be  watched  from  hour  to  hour;  yet 
if  one  speaks  of  the  matter  to  Monsieur  le  Prefet,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  plans  of  the  War  Staff  may  be  disarranged  in 
consequence.  As  yet,  we  have  no  proof  that  it  is  not 
some  portion  of  the  summer  campaign  which  they  have 
been  discussing  with  so  much  secrecy — but  me,  I  convince 
myself  that  it  is  something  more  serious  than  that.  You 
will  continue  to  watch,  ma  belle — both  at  Les  Trots  Gas- 
cons and  here.  I  will  write  down  the  number  of  my  own 
•pied-a-terre  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore — so!  You  will 
come  to  me  if  you  learn  anything  of  importance.  My 
concierge,  Madame  Fauvette,  will  admit  thee  to  wait,  if 
I  am  not  chez  moi.  In  the  meanwhile,  I  will  find  others  to 
keep  our  friends  over  there  under  observation." 

As  he  picked  up  his  hat  and  gloves,  there  was  an  ex- 
pression upon  her  pretty  face  which  indicated  the  extent  to 
which  his  service  three  years  before  had  won  her  affections. 
He  kissed  her  in  friendly  camaraderie — and  went  down 
the  stairs. 

It  was  but  eight  or  ten  blocks  to  the  Rue  Royale,  where 
he  dropped  in  at  the  Automobile  Club — happening  to 
overhear  a  remark  in  the  foyer  which  indicated  a  bit  of  un- 
expected good  luck.  A  member  was  speaking  of  the  Eng- 


164  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

lish  Admiral  and  European  celebrity,  Lord  Trevor  of  Dart- 
moor, as  having  left  the  club  not  fifteen  minutes  before. 

Calling  a  taxi,  Sir  Francis  motored  out  to  His  Lord- 
ship's modest  but  perfect  hotel  on  the  Avenue  de  Neuilly — 
maintained  in  constant  readiness  for  occupancy,  the  year 
around,  by  his  staff  of  English  and  Afghan  servants.  As 
Lammerford  was  considered  a  member  of  His  Lordship's 
family,  the  Afghan  kkansamah  welcomed  him  with  deep 
respect  and  ushered  him  up  to  the  room  he  usually  occu- 
pied— His  Lordship  not  having  arrived.  Within  a  few 
moments,  however,  Trevor  came  in — followed  by  Sabub 
Ali,  more  companion  than  servant,  with  the  suitcases. 
Joining  Sir  Francis  in  the  library,  he  lighted  a  long  cigar 
and  drew  a  breath  of  quiet  satisfaction. 

"Gad,  'Lammy,'  it's  a  bit  of  luck,  findin'  you  here— 
what!" 

"That's  the  remark  I  made  to  myself  when  I  heard  you 
were  in  Paris!  I  lost  no  time  getting  out  here!" 

"Why?  Have  you  picked  up  another  thread — when 
nobody  in  the  city  appears  to  dream  that  anything  of  the 
sort  is  brewing?  " 

"Hmph!  I  don't  know  what  you've  happened  upon! 
I've  learned  since  morning  that  a  prominent  Deputy — an 
intensely  'loyal  Frenchman*  for  eighteen  years,  mind  you — 
is  actually  a  Wilhelmstrasse  agent,  and  is  now  planning 
some  coup  so  far-reaching  and  unexpected  that  I'm  more 
nervous  than  I've  been  in  a  good  many  months!  What 
do  you  know  about  it?" 

"As  to  anything  at  this  end — nothing!  Of  course, 
there'll  be  little  in  the  Paris  papers  for  several  days;  we're 
keeping  the  thing  as  quiet  as  possible  for  obvious  reasons. 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  185 

But — Sinn  Feiners  captured  the  Dublin  post  office,  the 
Metropole,  and  practically  all  of  Sackville  Street  yester- 
day— shot  a  number  of  officers  as  they  were  returning  from 
the  races — are  sniping  off  soldiers  and  civilians  in  every 
direction;  and  have  burned  hundreds  of  buildings.  Scat- 
tered mobs  of  them  are  rising  all  through  the  South  of 
Ireland.  We  knew,  of  course,  that  they  were  armed  and 
drilling,  but  didn't  look  for  any  such  treacherous  out- 
break while  the  Empire  was  fighting  for  its  life!  It'll 
take  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  of  the  army  to  handle  the 
thing — an'  there's  no  telling  in  how  many  other  directions 
it  may  show  itself!  Sir  Roger  Casement  was  arrested 
near  Tralee,  after  being  put  ashore  from  a  German  sub- 
marine— convoying  a  supply-ship  with  enough  arms  to 
have  set  half  Ireland  ablaze,  or  at  least  all  the  disaffected 
lot.  Fortunately,  three-quarters  of  the  country  is  loyal  to 

His  Majesty's  Government,  and  will  remain  so !    But 

"Aye — bid  I  Now  listen  to  what  I've  stumbled  upon!" 
(As  briefly  as  possible,  he  sketched  the  haunting  resem- 
blance in  Couramont's  face  as  he  came  out  of  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli,  and  what  he  had  since  learned.)  "There's  not 
one  of  those  officers  or  the  women,  either,  whov  isn't  Irish 
— and  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  from  the  southern 
counties.  Couramont,  or  Schmaltz,  we  know  to  be  a 
Wilhelmstrasse  spy  who  has  been  waiting  eighteen  years 
to  do,  at  some  critica  moment,  what  he  is  ordered  to  do 
by  his  superiors  in  Berlin — probably  serving  the  Aus- 
wartiges  And  many  times  to  good  purpose,  during  those 
years,  as  well.  And,  undoubtedly,  there  are  a  dozen  or 
more  like  him  in  this  thing!  From  what  you  tell  me,  it's 
rather  obvious  that  what  they  and  those  Irish  officers  are 


166  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

planning  is  the  more  serious  part  of  the  Sinn  Fein  plot — 
and  they've  worked  in  the  surest  possible  way  to  avert 
suspicion." 

"We've  certainly  no  proof  to  act  upon  yet,  Lammy! 
Wait  a  bit!  I  think  I  know  of  a  way  to  get  some!  Do 
you  know — or  do  you  remember  hearing  about — Cor- 
poral Dennis  Corrigan,  of  that  Limerick  regiment?  He 
lost  his  left  hand  and  wrist  in  the  early  retreat — the  rear- 
guard action — and  was  decorated  for  an  act  of  conspicuous 
bravery.  Being  disabled,  of  course,  he  couldn't  serve  anys 
more,  and  he  opened  a  gambling  club  for  officers  in  the 
Rue  de  Savoie,  south  of  the  Seine.  It  is  winked  at  by 
the  Prefecture  because  he  maintains  a  quiet,  orderly 
place  where  there  is  seldom  any  very  high  play — catering, 
largely,  to  the  foreign  element  in  Paris,  though  his  rooms 
are  patronized  by  journalists  and  members  of  the  Chamber 
as  well. 

"  I  happen  to  know  that  Corrigan  was  an  old-time  Fenian 
— he's  nearer  sixty  than  forty-five,  though  you'd  never 
imagine  it  from  his  appearance.  I  also  know  practically 
all  the  signs  and  passwords  of  the  old  Fenian  organiza- 
tion and  the  Sinn  Fein.  One  of  my  press  syndicate  ed- 
itors obtained  them  for  me  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  Now 
it'll  be  a  simple  matter  for  me  to  obtain  any  sort  of  special 
passport  I  wish,  for  one  of  my  syndicate  war  correspon- 
dents— say,  an  Irish-American  New  Yorker.  Eh — what?" 

"Hmph!  We'd  best  let  no  word  of  this  reach  Lady 
Nan!  She'd  see  the  necessity,  of  course — but  she'd  have 
not  a  moment's  peace  until  you  were  back  in  London.  I'd 
undertake  it  myself — but  your  knowledge  makes  discov- 
ery less  likely.  I  can  watch  the  Trois  Gascons  and  that 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  167 

apartment  of  Marie  Latour's.  It's  even  possible  that 
I  may  be  able  to  conceal  myself  in  Fitzpatrick's  rooms 
during  the  next  twenty-four  hours." 

Next  evening  the  usual  habitues  of  Corrigan's  Club  in 
the  Rue  de  Savoie  observed  with  respectful  interest  the 
skilful  play  and  almost  unbelievable  luck  of  a  well-set-up, 
middle-aged  stranger  whose  manner  and  occasional  re- 
marks indicated  the  American  war-correspondent  now 
becoming  so  familiar  to  Parisians.  The  banque  had 
been  winning  heavily  from  its  regular  patrons  when  the 
New  Yorker  arrived  with  Lieutenant  James  O'Connor — • 
down  for  a  two-day  furlough — who  had  run  across  him  in 
the  Cafe  des  Trois  Gascons.  The  smile  of  half-recogni- 
tion upon  the  American's  face  convinced  O'Connor  that 
they  had  met  before — "Reilly"  being  so  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  families  of  Kerry  and  Cork,  so  prompt 
with  certain  words  and  signs  which  such  a  man  should 
know,  that  the  Lieutenant  was  anxious  to  have  him  meet 
Corrigan  without  delay.  His  sitting-in  at  the  game  and 
winning  so  irresistibly  was  merely  incidental — but  it  won 
the  admiration  of  every  Irishman  in  the  room,  most  of 
them  having  some  knowledge  of  the  deadly  play  a  Tam- 
many politician  learns  in  New  York. 

Reilly  at  last  cashed  in  for  thirty  thousand  francs,  the 
bulk  of  which  had  been  won  by  the  house  from  a  Russian 
diplomat  and  one  of  the  wealthyn  journalists  of  Paris  be- 
fore his  arrival.  Afterward  O'Connor  and  a  Major  Phe- 
lan  escorted  him  through  a  concealed  passage  into  another 
building,  where  the  one-handed  Corrigan  was  smoking  in 
a  little  private  den.  The  ex-corporal  appeared  to  be 


168  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

thoroughly  informed  as  to  Reilly's  winnings  and  his  sup- 
posed antecedents — greeting  him  with  a  grin  of  apprecia- 
tion. 

"Faith,  'tis  said  a  Tammany  Irishman  bates  the 
worrld,  me  fri'nd — an,  it's  mesilf  believes  it !  Sit  ye  down 
an'  smoke  a  seegyar  with  me!  (O'Connor,  ye  spalpane 
— 'tis  yourself  knows  where  there  '11  be  a  dhrap  of  tha  rale 
mountain  dew  in  yon  closet!)  Tell  me,  now,  Misther 
Reilly — how's  the  b'ys  in  New  Yorrk,  an'  what  ye '11  be 
doin'  over  here  in  the  newspaper  line?" 

Reilly — whom  Lord  Trevor's  intimate  friends  would  not 
have  recognized,  so  completely  misleading  were  the 
subtle  changes  he  had  made  in  dress  and  facial  expression — 
named  several  papers  of  the  syndicate  he  represented; 
exhibited  very  unusual  credentials  in  the  way  of  passport 
and  special  permits  to  visit  the  trenches;  and  implied, 
more  by  looks  than  words,  that  his  errand  in  France  was 
not  altogether  a  journalistic  one.  He  delighted  them  by 
handing  over  to  Corrigan  the  entire  thirty  thousand  francs 
he  had  just  won — to  be  expended  in  any  worthy  cause 
which  the  ex-corporal  might  have  in  mind — and  casually 
remarked  that  he  had  left  Dublin  two  days  before,  com- 
pletely disgusted  with  the  impatience  which  had  led  to  an 
outbreak  there  at  a  moment  when  it  was  practically  cer- 
tain to  fail. 

They  listened  to  this  in  amazement — then  put  a  sin- 
ister question  or  two  which  would  have  cost  him  his  life 
had  he  answered  with  the  slightest  hesitation.  But  he 
exhibited  such  a  grasp  of  details — having  received  by  rad- 
iogram, three  hours  before,  reports  of  the  Dublin  situ- 
ation which  they  would  have  no  means  of  getting  for  sev- 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  169 

eral  days — that  he  convinced  them  by  what  appeared  to 
be  absolute  knowledge  of  far  more  than  local  conditions. 
After  demonstrating  the  force  of  his  contention  until  they 
saw  it  clearly,  he  risked  a  shot  in  the  dark. 

"I  suppose  you'll  agree  with  me  that  the  business  over 
yon  changes  matters  a  good  bit?  For,  d'ye  see,  if  you 
attempt  to  go  on  with  this  end  of  the  plan  now,  'tis  likely 
that  many  of  ye  are  bein'  watched!  Before  ye  can  act 
together,  in  one  grand  series  of  blows,  they'll  be  nipping 
first  one  and  then  another — till  it's  the  devil's  own  mess 
you  '11  be  in,  and  a  file  of  sharp-shooters  against  the  first 
wall  for  every  man!" 

It  was  a  chance.  He  scarcely  dared  hope  it  would  draw 
them;  yet  it  had  been  done  with  such  consummate  natu- 
ralness that  they  must  have  been  gifted  with  almost  super- 
human telepathy  to  have  avoided  the  trap.  They  fell 
into  it  with  no  suspicion  of  the  bait. 

"But — domn  it  all,  man!  There'll  be  never  another 
chance  in  years!  'Tis  ourselves  has  schamed  for  months 
— has  watched  this  one  an'  that  one  till  we  know  the  day 
an'  the  hour  they'll  be  in  certain  places!  'Tis  the  wires 
we've  laid  an'  the  frame-ups  we've  planned  to  lure  thim 
all  into  five  diff'rent  places  the  same  hour — so  we  can 
make  a  clane  job  of  it!  Joffre,  Sarrail,  an'  ten  Division 
Ginerals  will  be  in  Rheims  the  same  avenin'!  Poincare, 
Briand,  an'  eighteen  others  of  the  Cabinet  an'  Chamber 
will  be  comin'  out  of  the  Chamber  at  a  certain  hour  av 
the  same  night!  They'll  be  two  min  doggin'  every 
Mimber  of  the  British  Cabinet — fourteen  1'aders  of  the 
Peers  an'  Commons — six  admirals — an'  eight  major-gin- 
erals  over  here — whin  the  hour  strikes ! " 


170  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"An*  that  night?  Ye've  set  it  for  less  than  two  weeks 
away,  of  course!  That's  why  I'm  tellin'  ye  'tis  madness — 
after  the  fools'  work  in  Dublin!" 

"Man — 'tis  one  wake  from  this  night  has  been  set  fr  the 
job!" 

"Aye!  While  our  own  leaders  are  bein'  shot  in  Dub- 
lin or  the  Tower:  When  the  eyes  of  Europe  are  watchin' 
every  Irishman  in  the  British  Isles  and  on  the  Continent! 
Go  awn  with  it,  if  ye  will !  This  day,  two  weeks,  ye '11  all 
be  rottin'  four  feet  under  the  sod !  Send  out  the  worrd,  I 
tell  ye!  Send  out  the  worrd  to-morrow!  Put  off  the  day 
two  months!  Then  'twill  come  upon  them  like  a  blow  in 
the  dark — from  heaven  knows  where — and  ye'll  paralyze 
the  Entente!  Do  it  now,  an'  the  Entente'}}  snuff  ye  out 
like  so  many  candle-wicks!  Go  awn — any  way  ye  like! 
I'm  tettin'  ye— that's  all!" 

They  were  impressed,  convinced  even;  yet  the  sudden 
disarrangement  of  their  plans  threw  them  into  momentary 
panic.  How  to  inform  each  member  of  their  organization 
in  time?  It  seemed  an  impossible  task. 

"An*  who'll  carry  the  worrd  to  England,  I'm  wishin*  to 
know?"  (This,  from  Corrigan.)  "'Tis  possible,  no 
doubt,  to  pass  the  worrd  through  France — an'  I've  a  man 
can  go  to  Rome  this  night.  But,  d'ye  see,  the  most  of 
us  is  detailed,  here  an'  yon,  behind  the  firin'-lines.  They 
get  away  for  a  bit  of  furlough  to  rest  from  the  strain  of  con- 
stant fightin' — but  they  must  account  for  every  move 
they  make.  We've  no  way  of  givin'  the  whisper  to  those 
in  England  unless  one  of  us  bears  it  there!  "Tis  no  aisy 
job  to  go  an*  come  as  ye  plaze  in  these  days — as  ye  well 
know,  Reilly!" 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  171 

Reilly  lighted  a  fresh  cigar — spread  open  his  special 
passport  upon  the  table. 

"Faith,  'tis  myself  can  do  the  job,  if  ye  wish!  My 
papers  '11  pass  me  with  little  trouble,  d'ye  see.  I  would  not 
be  sittin'  idle  an'  seein'  a  lot  of  the  finest  men  old  Ireland 
ever  grew — God  bless  her! — lined  up  against  a  wall  an' 
shot  for  makin'  the  mistake  of  strikin'  before  'twas  pos- 
sible to  drive  the  stroke  home!'* 

The  offer  was  made  so  naturally,  spontaneously,  that 
it  carried  them  off  their  feet  and  banished  every  particle 
of  suspicion  they  might  have  had.  In  half  an  hour  he  had 
committed  to  memory  a  dozen  names  and  addresses  in 
London,  Manchester,,  and  Liverpool,  with  additional 
passwords,  and  the  cards  of  three  officers  which  had  little 
pencil-dots  under  certain  engraved  letters  in  each  name. 

Reilly  was  stopping  at  a  little  hotel  frequented  by 
Americans  in  the  Rue  de  L'Echelle,  and  O'Connor  went  there 
with  him  when  he  left.  In  the  morning  the  war  corres- 
pondent assumed  that  he  would  be  shadowed  by  some  of 
the  organization — so,  after  making  a  few  purchases,  he 
walked  along  to  the  Cafe  des  Trois  Gascons  for  a  late 
breakfast,  casually  sitting  down  at  one  of  Marie  Latour's 
tables  as  if  he  preferred  the  quieter  part  of  the  room.  She 
had  no  recollection  of  ever  having  seen  the  man  before; 
yet  something  in  the  glance  he  gave  her  appeared  fa- 
miliar. When  she  brought  his  omelette  and  coffee,  he  said 
— in  so  low  a  tone  that  it  couldn't  have  been  overheard 
ten  feet  away: 

"You  remember  M'sieur  le  Chevalier — who  was  in  your 
apartment  last  evening,  ma  belle  ?" 

"M'sieu'   is   insulting!    One  does  not  comprehend!" 


172  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"  Tres  bien,  ma  fillet  Me — I  make  my  apologies,  and  I 
entrust  a  message  to  your  care.  M'sieur  le  Chevalier  will 
be  here  for  his  coffee  and  rolls  very  soon.  Whisper  to  him : 
'The  Calais  boat — this  afternoon — ivithout  fail!'  He  will 
understand  perfectly — and  you  will  have  served  France 
better  than  you  know.  Another  caf6-au-lait,  if  you  please 
— and  bacon  with  the  kidneys." 

The  message  was  delivered  in  his  exact  words — Marie 
feeling  much  relieved  at  Lammerford's  assurance  that  it 
was  from  one  of  the  great  ones  in  the  Corps  Diplomatique. 
So  it  came  about  that  Sir  Francis  was  in  the  Gare  du  Nord 
when  the  Calais  train  pulled  out — having  barely  time  to 
run  along  the  platform  and  jump  into  a  compartment  in 
which  there  was  but  one  other  passenger,  an  American  war- 
correspondent  who  was  reading  an  afternoon  journal. 
After  the  guard  had  inspected  their  tickets — proceeding 
along  the  running-board  outside  of  the  coupes — Lammer- 
ford  borrowed  a  light  for  his  cigar  from  the  American,  and 
they  fell  into  a  casual  discussion  of  the  situation  in  the 
trenches.  Long  before  the  train  reached  Calais,  he  was 
asleep  by  the  window  at  one  end  of  the  compartment — 
and  Reilly,  at  the  other;  yet  Lammerford  was  now  con- 
versant with  the  whole  plot  and  knew  just  what  action  to 
take  upon  his  return  to  Paris  by  the  morning  train. 

When  Reilly  arrived  at  Charing  Cross,  a  telegram  from 
Sir  Francis  had  preceded  him.  Consequently,  after  reg- 
istering at  the  Piccadilly  Hotel,  he  was  given  a  room  and 
bath  on  the  second  floor  which,  if  required  for  such  a  pur- 
pose, could  be  made  part  of  a  suite — there  being  a  com- 
municating door  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bathroom. 
He  had  assumed  that  Corrigan  was  telling  only  the  simple 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  173 

truth  when  he  said  it  was  practically  impossible  for  one  of 
their  organization  to  leave  for  England  without  a  good 
deal  of  red  tape  which  was  sure  to  attract  undesirable 
attention.  But  he  was  also  convinced  that  the  Sinn 
Feiner  would  manage  in  some  way  to  have  him  followed 
at  every  step  if  it  were  possible  to  do  so — hence  the  pre- 
cautions which  Lammerford  had  taken  for  him. 

He  reached  the  hotel  about  midnight — too  late  to  see 
the  men  whose  names  he  had  memorized;  so  after  a  sup- 
per in  the  grill,  he  went  to  bed,  turning  off  the  lights  with- 
in fifteen  minutes  after  locking  the  door  of  his  room. 
Meanwhile  a  wealthy  mine-owner  from  the  Cape — se- 
cretly connected  with  Downing  Street — had  been  given 
the  suite  adjoining  Reilly's.  At  ten  o'clock  Sir  Edward 
Wray,  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  had  arrived 
at  the  Piccadilly  in  his  motor  and  sent  up  a  card  to  the 
mine-owner,  who  received  him  in  his  suite.  When  Reilly 
opened  the  door  from  his  bathroom,  at  half -past  twelve, 
Sir  Edward  was  smoking  hi  the  dark,  while  his  mining 
friend  had  shut  himself  into  the  further  room  of  the  suite. 
During  that  half-hour  interview  in  the  dark,  Sir  Edward 
was  given  names  and  addresses  which  he  jotted  down  in 
pencil  to  avoid  mistakes. 

For  the  next  forty-eight  hours  Reilly  was  busy  motor- 
ing about  London  in  a  taxi,  leaving  cards,  as  a  war-corres- 
pondent desiring  interviews,  at  the  houses  of  various 
people  more  or  less  prominent  in  the  army  or  London  so- 
ciety. In  several  instances  he  found  the  men  at  home 
and  gave  them  Corrigan's  instructions — the  Londoners 
seeing  the  danger  of  immediate  action  in  carrying  out  their 
prearranged  plan  more  quickly  than  had  the  men  in 


174  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

France.  The  fiasco  in  Dublin  was  having  its  effect  upon 
them,  and  the  military  executions  had  a  very  sobering 
influence  even  while  they  enraged  the  conspirators  almost 
beyond  endurance. 

In  each  interview  Lord  Trevor — as  the  pseudo-Reilly 
— had  the  feeling  that  the  man  with  whom  he  had  been 
talking  was  merely  an  executive,  that  the  brains  of  the 
whole  movement  was  a  person  of  much  greater  influence 
and  prominence.  Consequently  his  casual  glances  about 
the  different  rooms  took  and  recorded  every  little  detail 
which  might  be  of  use  hi  tracing  the  chief  conspirator.  In 
one  house  the  gentleman  was  obliged  to  leave  the  room 
for  a  few  moments  in  response  to  a  message  from  one  of 
the  ladies  of  his  family.  During  his  absence  Trevor 
noticed  a  fragment  of  paper  covered  with  fine  handwrit- 
ing upon  the  flat-topped  library  desk — a  half  page  ap- 
parently torn  from  some  letter.  The  writing  appeared 
curiously  familiar,  but  he  couldn't  place  it — so  he  pock- 
eted the  scrap  for  more  careful  examination  later. 

He  knew  that  any  one  who  might  be  following  him  about 
during  the  day  would  consider  his  calling  upon  one  or 
two  prominent  men  not  connected  with  the  conspiracy  a 
clever  blind  to  cover  the  work  he  was  actually  doing — 
so  he  motored  around  to  his  own  Park  Lane  mansion  about 
six  in  the  afternoon.  As  soon  as  he  was  inside  and  had 
been  recognized  by  his  Afghan  khansamah,  he  went  into 
the  big  library  to  search  through  half  a  dozen  great  scrap- 
books  which  contained  many  thousands  of  handwriting- 
specimens,  arranged  and  indexed  according  to  their  style 
— their  heavy  or  light  strokes,  peculiar  formations  of 
vowels  and  consonants,  and  general  alignment.  In  the 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  175 

course  of  an  hour  he  came  upon  two  pages  of  specimens 
very  closely  resembling  the  scrap  he  had  managed  to  se- 
cure— but  not  exactly.  Upon  the  next  page  he  found 
a  fac-simile — with  a  well-known  signature  under  it. 

"Lord  Kilimainine!  My  word!  A  Kerry  man,  to  be 
sure — and  yet — who'd  have  thought  it!  A  man  who  has 
served  for  years  in  the  diplomatic  service — has  received 
honors  and  preferment  from  the  Crown!" 

The  man  who  left  the  Trevor  mansion  and  motored 
away  in  his  taxi  resembled  Mr.  Reilly  in  a  general  way. 
The  chauffeur  didn't  look  at  him  closely,  but  drove  him 
back  to  the  Hotel  Piccadilly,  where  he  paid  the  taxi-fare 
and  went  in  as  if  stopping  there.  At  the  desk,  however,  he 
merely  asked  for  a  gentleman  whom  he  knew  was  not  in 
at  the  time — and  went  out  by  the  Regent  Street  entrance. 
That  was  the  last  ever  seen  of  Reilly,  the  New  York  war- 
correspondent.  His  suitcase  was  held  by  the  hotel  people 
for  a  month  or  so,  and  Scotland  Yard  notified,  but  it  was 
finally  assumed  that  he  had  been  waylaid  and  killed  in 
some  mysterious  manner. 

At  nine  o'clock  on  the  evening  he  disappeared,  Lord 
Trevor,  with  Sir  Edward  Wray  and  two  officers  of  the  Gen- 
eral Staff,  called  upon  Lord  Kilimainine  at  his  luxuriously 
furnished  town  house.  He  received  them  courteously, 
escorting  the  party  back  to  his  smoking  room  at  the 
rear  of  the  house,  overlooking  a  walled  garden.  'Trevor 
indicated  the  object  of  their  visit  by  expressing  his  under- 
standing that  Kilimainine  was  rather  well  acquainted 
with  the  French  Deputy,  M.  Henri  Couramont — asking 
whether  he  could  give  them  any  information  as  to  the 


176  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

man's  antecedents.  The  Irishman's  eyes  narrowed 
slightly  as  he  glanced  from  one  to  another  of  them.  Sub- 
consciously, he  noticed  that  none  of  the  four  had  lighted 
the  cigars  he  offered  them. 

"I've  met  the  man,  Your  Lordship,  more  than  once  — 
but  in  a  purely  social  way.  Do  you  mind  telling  me  your 
object  in  asking  such  a  question?" 

"Why  —  er  —  Couramont  was  executed  this  afternoon, 
in  Paris,  in  a  rather  sensational  way.  He  was  arrested  at 
his  offices  in  the  Courier  du  Matin  building  —  placed,  hand- 
cuffed, in  an  open  cart  —  driven  up  and  down  the  Champs 
Elysees  and  ,the  Boulevards  for  several  hours  with 
a  placard  on  his  back.  This  placard  stated  that  for 
eighteen  years  he  had  posed  as  a  loyal  Frenchman,  gain- 
ing honors  and  position  in  Paris,  while  all  the  time  he 
was  actually  Captain  Heinrich  Schmaltz,  a  secret  agent 
of  Wilhelmstrasse.  At  sunset  in  the  Place  de  la  Con- 
corde, which  was  packed  with  one  of  the  largest  crowds 
ever  gathered  there,  he  was  shot.  It  had  been  discovered 
that  he  was  one  of  the  chief  instigators  of  a  Sinn  Fein  plot 
which  contemplated  a  good  deal  more  serious  and  wide- 
spread action  than  the  Dublin  affair.  The  other  leader  is 
known  to  be  a  certain  Irish  peer." 

With  a  smile  of  sardonic  incredulity,  as  they  supposed, 
opened  a  drawer  of  the  table  by  which  he  sat, 


and  reached  in  —  apparently  for  a  document  which  they 
could  see  at  the  back  of  it.  When  his  hand  came  out,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  flash  —  a  stunning  report. 

Lord  Trevor  winced  a  Kttle  as  the  ball  went  through  the 
inner  muscles  of  his  left  arm  —  though  the  eye  behind  his 
monocle  continued  to  gaze  inquiringly  at  his  would-be 


THE  GREATER  PLOT  177 

assassin.  Then  there  came  an  answering  flash  from  the 
vicinity  of  his  right  hip.  Lord  Kilimainine  sank  back  in 
his  chair,  shot  through  the  heart — and  Trevor  was  hurried 
out  of  the  house  by  one  of  the  generals  before  the  arrival 
of  the  doctor  or  members  of  Kilimainine's  family.  As  the 
starched  front  of  the  dead  man's  evening-shirt  was  some- 
what blackened  by  powder  grains,  it  was  assumed  that  he 
had  committed  suicide. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    SKAGER-RACK — AND    KITCHENER 

EID  TREVOR'S  wound  proved  to  be  a  slight  one 
which  kept  him  indoors  but  a  few  days.  He  was 
going  into  the  Admiralty  for  a  conference,  one 
afternoon,  when  he  passed  a  man  of  thirty-five  or  more 
who  walked  with  the  nervously  impatient  step  of  an  Amer- 
ican. He  had  the  manner  of  a  student  or  inventor — a 
type  quite  familiar  to  the  Viscount.  A  few  moments 
later,  while  chatting  with  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  t 
that  statesman  commented  upon  the  annoyance  to  which 
the  Admiralty  and  the  War  Office  were  subjected  from 
visionaries  with  schemes  for  conducting  the  war,  and  in- 
ventors with  war-appliances  of  every  description. 

"Not  ten  minutes  ago,"  he  said,  "there  was  an  Amer- 
ican in  here  trying  to  interest  me  in  a  new  machine  for  de- 
tecting the  exact  location  of  distant  wireless  stations  from 
any  given  point.  He  obtained  the  appointment  through 
his  Ambassador,  so  I  was  obliged  to  give  him  a  few  min- 
utes and  file  a  description  of  his  device  for  examination 
when  some  junior  of  the  Signal  Service  has  time  and  op- 
portunity for  a  test.  These  chaps  never  seem  to  under- 
stand that  we  have  our  own  staff  of  experts  at  the  Admir- 
alty who  are  constantly  experimenting  along  such  lines 
and  are  quite  likely  to  have  gone  much  further  than 
they!" 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  179 

"Hmph !  That's  rawther  in  my  line,  don't  you  know — 
the  Wireless  Service.  Might  be  worth  our  while  to  see 
what  the  chap  really  has — eh,  what?  Suppose  you  have 
him  bring  his  device  to  me  in  Park  Lane?  Since  I  put  up 
those  long  aerials  in  my  own  grounds,  on  two-hundred-foot 
masts,  I've  caught  more  than  one  message  from  Berlin. 
It  would  be  a  capital  place  for  testin'  out  whatever  he  has, 
don't  you  know — an'  without  takin'  up  the  time  of  you 
busy  people.  What?" 

The  Cabinet  Minister  picked  up  a  card  from  his  desk 
and  gave  it  to  His  Lordship — who  talked  for  a  few  minutes 
upon  Service  matters  and  then  went  out  to  his  waiting  car. 
Glancing  at  the  card,  he  mentioned  an  address  to  his  Af- 
ghan chauffeur.  In  fifteen  minutes  they  stopped  before 
a  small  house  facing  the  river  in  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea — 
kept  by  a  naval  officer's  widow  who  let  her  upper  rooms  as 
lodgings  and  provided  breakfasts  when  required.*  In  a 
large  front  room  Lord  Trevor  found  the  American,  Hiram 
Meredith,  working  over  some  battery  fittings  at  a  bench 
which  he  had  rigged  up  against  the  wall. 

The  man  looked  from  the  card  to  His  Lordship's  face, 
and  back  again. 

"You're  really  Lord  Trevor  of  Dartmoor — the  famous 
Lord  Trevor — no  fooling?  H-m-m — I  sort  of  reco'nize 
you,  now,  from  the  slew  of  pictures  I've  seen!  Funny! 
When  I  heard  your  step  on  the  stairs,  I'd  have  sworn  you 
were  an  American  like  me!" 

"Faith,  you're  quite  right  as  to  that,  Mr.  Meredith!  I 
was  born  in  Boston,  don't  you  know.  Saw  you  comin* 
out  of  the  Admir'lty,  this  awfternoon — an'  Balfour  told 
me  you  had  something  new  in  the  way  of  an  electro-mag- 


180  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

netic  detector.  I  hold  a  Rear  AdmirTs  commission  in 
the  British  Navy,  d'ye  see — an'  others  in  the  Aviation  an' 
Signal  Services  as  well.  You  don't  quite  understand 
that — eh?  I've  specialized  in  all  three,  don't  you  know — 
an'  they  frequ'ntly  use  me  in  advisory  capacity.  Now 
— as  to  this  invention  of  yours?  Have  you  a  workin* 
model  of  the  device,  here,  with  which  it  would  be  possible 
to  make  a  test?" 

"Sure!  The  whole  thing's  in  that  box  on  the  end  of 
the  bench!  It's  a  leetle  more  bulky  than  the  receivin' 
instruments  now  in  use,  but  it  don't  work  to  best  advan- 
tage unless  on  a  pretty  solid  base — so  the  size  ain't  so 
much  of  an  objection." 

"Are  the  adjustm'nts  so  delicate  that  it  cawn't  be  moved 
without  puttin'  the  mechanism  out  of  order?" 

"Oh,  hell,  no !  Move  it  anywhere  you  like,  an'  I'll  have 
it  ready  for  business  inside  of  an  hour.  I've  heard  a  good 
deal  about  you,  Mister  Lord — and  thought,  more'n  once,  it 
would  be  a  stroke  of  luck  if  I  could  get  you  interested  in  my 
detector,  cause  you  have  a  reputation  of  goin'  the  limit  in 
everything  you  tackle — but  you  was  too  big  a  man  for  me  to 
chase  round  after !  You  got  millions  where  I  got  dollars !  Of 
course,  that  don't  make  you  any  better'n  I  am,  as  a  man, 
but  it  sure  calls  for  a  lot  more  of  your  personal  time.  I 
tackled  the  Admiralty  cause  they  got  plenty  of  stations 
where  a  test  can  be  made.  To  save  my  soul  I  can't  get 
permission,  here,  to  string  a  couple  of  short-len'th  aerials 
for  experimentin' !  Guess  there  ain't  much  question  about 
your  gettin'  'em  to  let  you  make  a  test  'most  anywhere.  So 
you  see  how  much  I  appreciate  this  call  of  yours.  Jest  say 
where  you  want  to  have  my  machine  toted,  an'  she'll  be 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  181 

there  any  time  you  like !  I've  got  the  goods,  Mister  Lord 
— you'll  say  so  when  you  see  the  thing  work!" 

"There's  one  triflin'  formality  to  be  gotten  around,  Mr. 
Meredith.  Will  the  American  ambassador  vouch  for 
your  friendship  toward  the  British  Governm'nt?  Does 
he  know  enough  about  you  to  guarantee  that  you  won't 
betray  any  war-secrets  you  may  pick  up  through  this 
machine  of  yours?" 

"Who — Page?  Hell!  I've  pestered  him  so  much 
since  I  came  over  here  that  he  knows  all  about  me  for 
thirty  years  back!  We're  straight  English  descent — and 
if  I  couldn't  do  more  good  this  way  than  by  fightin'  in  the 
trenches,  I'd  enlist  over  here.  Suppose  we  go  around  to 
the  Embassy  an'  see  him?" 

"Very  good!  I  was  about  to  suggest  that.  An'  we'd 
best  take  along  your  machine  in  the  car.  I've  my  own 
wireless,  hi  the  grounds  of  my  town  house,  so  you'll  find 
everything  you  require,  I  fawncy." 

Assurances  given  by  the  American  Ambassador  being 
entirely  satisfactory,  they  went  directly  from  Victoria 
Street  to  Park  Lane — where  two  of  his  Afghan  servants 
took  the  black  box  from  the  car  and  carried  it  to  the  rear 
of  the  main  hall,  stepping  into  a  small  American  elevator. 
As  the  lift  descended  Meredith  roughly  estimated  the 
depth  reached  as,  approximately,  forty  feet.  The  cage 
stopped  before  a  steel  door  set  in  solid  masonry — and 
when  this  was  opened  by  His  Lordship  with  a  Yale  key, 
they  walked  along  an  electrically  lighted  passage  until 
they  came  to  another  steel  door,  opening  into  an  under- 
ground chamber  fitted  up  with  every  known  appliance 
for  wireless  telephoning  and  telegraphy.  The  Afghans  had 


18£  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

followed  them  with  the  box — which,  at  His  Lordship's 
suggestion,  they  placed  upon  a  slate-covered  concrete 
bench  running  along  one  side  of  the  room.  With  a  nod  of 
satisfaction  the  American  took  off  his  coat,  unbolted  the 
sides  and  top  of  the  box,  and  carefully  lifted  his  machine 
out  upon  the  slate  foundation.  He  then  made  a  number 
of  delicate  adjustments  by  means  of  set-screws,  connected 
two  of  the  binding  posts  to  wires  leading  from  a  storage 
battery  which  Lord  Trevor  pointed  out — and  finally  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  the  instruments  were  in  perfect 
working  order. 

"Now,  if  you'll  tell  me  where  the  aerial  connection  is, 
Mr.  Lord — I'll  be  able  to  show  you  something!  By  the 
way,  if  you  happen  to  have  a  large-scale  map  of  every- 
thing within  a  hundred  miles,  it'll  help  us  a  lot!  We 
can  use  a  map  of  Europe,  too,  I  guess — those  aerials  of 
yours  ought  to  catch  anything  within  fifteen  hundred 
miles  at  the  very  least.  In  fact,  I  wouldn't  be  surprised 
if  you  got  the  Arlington  station  at  Washington,  occasion- 
ally." 

"Oh,  aye!  We  heard  them  when  they  were  talkin' 
to  the  Eiffel  Tower  in  Paris.  (Er — Sabub!  You  know 
where  to  find  the  Ordnance  maps,  in  the  lib'ry — an'  the 
lapge-scale  'topographic'  Europe!  Fetch  them  down  to 
us,  will  you?  An'  you  might  have  a  bit  of  lunch  an'  some 
wine  sent  down  at  the  same  time.  We  may  be  here  for 
two  or  three  hours.)" 

When  the  stately  Afghan  khansamah  disappeared  along 
the  passage,  Meredith  asked: 

"How  the  devil  do  you  ventilate  this  place?  I'd  say 
we  must  be  at  least  forty  feet  underground — no  possible 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  183 

chance  of  any  one  hearin'  your  spark — yet  the  air's  as 
pure  as  in  the  hall  of  your  house!" 

"There's  a  fresh-air  duct  just  under  the  eaves,  forty- 
two  feet  above  the  garden  level,  an'  the  exhaust  goes  out 
through  one  of  the  chimneys — electric  blower  keeps  it 
moving — sound-deadeners  like  Maxim  silencers  in  both 
flues.  My  grounds  are  patrolled  at  night — no  chance 
of  any  one  tamperin'  with  the  aerials — an'  the  connec- 
tion is  taken  down  through  one  of  the  house  chimneys, 
which  has  a  built-in  pipe  for  the  purpose.  You  can  run 
your  wires  to  those  two  binding  posts  in  the  wall — just 
below  the  lightning  arrester"  In  a  few  moments  the 
connections  were  made,  and  duplicate  head-frames  at- 
tached to  the  instruments. 

"P'raps  I'd  better  give  you  some  idea  of  how  she  works, 
then  you  can  see  better  what  happens.  The  principle  is 
kinda  like  Marconi's  recent  invention — but  my  machine 
goes  a  good  deal  farther  than  his  in  the  way  of  exact  results. 
You've  seen  the  radiating  waves  hi  a  puddle,  after  you 
chucked  a  stone  in  it — and  of  course  you  know  the  Hertzian 
waves  radiate  the  same  way — an'  that  we  talk  of  the  indi- 
vidual impulses  through  the  air  as  five  hundred-meter,  fif- 
teen hundred-metre,  or  two  thousand-metre  wave-lengths, 
according  to  the  electro-dynamic  force  of  the  splash  made  in 
the  atmosphere  by  the  spark  as  the  impulse  is  thrown  off 
from  the  aerials.  A  little  splash  in  the  pond  makes  little 
ripples — only  a  few  inches  apart;  a  heavy  splash  makes 
big  ripples — several  feet  apart;  and  all  the  ripples  grad- 
ually flatten  out  so's  you  can't  notice  'em  as  they  get 
farther  an'  farther  from  the  splash.  Well,  my  instru- 
ments register,  to  a  mighty  fine  point,  the  weakening  of 


184  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

those  wave-impulses  in  the  air,  so  I'm  able  to  gauge  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  how  far  away  the  spark  is  that  sends 
'em.  The  matter  of  direction  is  a  leetle  more  difficult  to 
get  at.  If  you  was  standin'  on  an  island  in  the  middle  of 
a  pond,  an'  a  stone  was  dropped  into  the  water,  say,  at  the 
eastern  edge  of  it,  the  concentric  ripples  would  only  come 
to  your  island  on  its  east  side;  north,  west,  an'  south  of  it 
the  water  would  be  perfectly  smooth.  But  if  the  pond 
was  pretty  big,  the  ripples  would  be  so  long  that  you 
couldn't  hardly  tell,  fom  the  curvature  alone,  the  exact 
spot  they  was  comin'  from.  All  the  same,  the  top  of  the 
curve  would  hit  your  island  a  leetle  mite  before  the  rest 
of  it " 

"And  your  device  registers  the  vary  in'  intensity  of  the 
wave-impulse  along  a  certain  sector  of  the  compass — 
what?" 

"That's  the  idea  exactly.  This  little  incandescent 
lamp  is  connected  with  a  compass  which  can  be  electri- 
cally isolated  from  different  points,  or  bearings — the 
needle  bein'  drawn  to'ard  the  direction  the  waves  are 
comin'  from.  If  no  impulse  is  comin'  from  the  west, 
when  the  rheostat  is  set  to  a  certain  wave-length,  the 
lamp  will  remain  black — though  it  will  glow  cherry-red  if 
the  coil  is  exposed  to  the  north  an'  south  (supposin*  the 
impulse  is  comin'  from  the  east).  When  it's  exposed 
fully  to  the  east  it  gets  its  brightest  illumination  an' 
throws  the  blackest  shadow  from  a  wooden  peg  on  a  re- 
volvin'  disc.  By  movin'  the  isolatin'  sector  around — notin* 
the  stren'th  of  the  illumination  an'  shadow  from  the  peg — 
I  get  within  one  or  two  points  of  the  true  compass  bearing. 
Now,  jest  put  on  that  head-frame,  an'  we'll  make  a  test." 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  185 

There  was  a  confused  jumble  of  zzip-zzip-zziping  on 
jhe  diaphragms — above  which  one  lot  sounded  a  trifle 
clearer  than  the  others.  "That  fellow  is  sendin'  at  about 
two  thousand  metres,  I  should  say!"  (Shoving  over 
the  audion-adjustment  to  that  wave-length.)  "Ah!  Now 
we've  got  him!  He's  callin'  B-X-B— B-X-B— B-X-B 
— and  there  goes  the  other  feller,  answerin'  him!  If 
you'll  write  down  what  he  says,  Mister  Lord,  I'll  figure 
the  distance  an'  direction." 

Followed  several  minutes  of  silence — during  which 
Lord  Trevor  jotted  down  a  string  of  apparently  meaning- 
less words,  as  the  American's  fingers  deftly  manipulated  a 
number  of  little  switches  and  levers  while  he  closely 
watched  a  mariner's  compass  and  the  little  incandescent 
lamp. 

"Hmph!  Those  chaps  are  talking  in  what  I  thought 
was  our  Navy  code,  at  first — but  some  of  the  words  don't 
appear  to  make  sense !  About  where  do  your  instruments 
say  they  are?" 

"Nearest  one  is  East — three-quarters  South — twenty- 
three  miles.  T'other  feller  is  an  even  hundred  an'  ninety- 
seven  miles,  East  by  South — a  quarter  South." 

Spreading  the  big  topographic  map  of  Europe  upon  a 
broad  table  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  His  Lordship  meas- 
ured distances  with  a  celluloid  compass-card  and  thread, 
then  looked  up  with  an  expression  of  protest. 

"I  fawncy  you  failed  to  score  that  time,  old  chap!  If 
your  figures  were  correct,  our  Naval  Station  at  Woolwich 
Dockyard  IDOS  taUdn  with  some  German  station  in  Brussels 
— which  is,  of  course,  impossible!" 

"You  got  the  message  there — an'  you  can  prob'ly  get 


186  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

hold  of  your  Navy  code-book.  Before  you're  so  positive 
my  instruments  are  wrong,  perhaps  you'd  better  figger 
out  that  message !  Wait  a  minute !  You're  dead  sure  I'm 
wrong,  Mister  Lord — an'  I'm  dead  sure  I'm  right!  Sup- 
pose we  test  this  out  a  different  way?  You  call  up  some 
station  you  talk  with,  occasionally — don't  tell  me  what  it 
is,  or  in  what  direction.  Call  it  by  the  letters  down  in 
your  Navy  code,  or  some  other  one  that  I  don't  know  any- 
thing about,  so  I  can't  possibly  guess  the  name — and  I'll 
locate  it  for  you  to  within  quarter  of  a  mile!" 

"Very  good!    That's  certainly  a  fair  test!'* 

His  Lordship  sat  down  at  the  operating-table,  started 
his  dynamo,  moved  the  switch  from  under  his  key,  and  com- 
menced calling  a  two-letter  number.  In  three  minutes  he 
caught  the  acknowledgment — asked  a  couple  of  questions 
which  were  answered  at  length — and  stopped.  Mere- 
dith figured  for  a  moment  then  quietly  said: 

"Ninety-eight  miles,  air  line,  Southwest  by  West — 
and  you  were  usin'  eighteen  hundred  metres — a  rather  un- 
usual len'th." 

Trevor  spread  an  Ordnance  map  of  southern  England 
upon  the  table — measuring  off  the  distance  with  the  cellu- 
loid compass-card  and  thread. 

"Poole,  by  Jove!  My  word,  Meredith — you  win! 
Even  if  you'd  known  the  code  an'  recognized  the  call,  you 
couldn't  have  been  sure  enough — of  the  station  that 
would  occur  to  me — to  have  figured  the  distance  in  ad- 
vance. Just  for  conclusive  proof,  suppose  we  try  that 
same  test  on  two  other  places?" 

His  Lordship  called  a  station  in  northern  Scotland — 
•which  answered  after  fifteen  minutes — and  then  a  Naval 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  137 

station  in  Ireland — both  of  which  the  American  spotted 
accurately.  His  distance  was  a  mile  short  in  the  first 
instance,  and  a  quarter  of  a  point  off  in  regard  to  iihe  Irish 
one — but  the  faults  might  have  been  due  to  imperfect 
printing  of  the  maps  as  easily  as  to  inaccuracies  in  his  in- 
strument, on  distances  of  that  length.  For  practical  pur- 
poses, the  instrument  was  a  marvel — of  such  unquestionable 
value  to  the  British  Government  that  Trevor  determined 
to  obtain  control  of  it  before  the  inventor  left  Park  Lane. 
«"I  say,  Meredith!  You've  patented  the  thing  in  the 
United  Kingdom?" 

"Patent  applied  for — and  granted  in  the  United  States. 
The  red  tape  makes  it  a  lot  slower  over  here." 

"Hmph!  I  fawncy  there  are  ways  of  pushin*  matters — 
an'  you'd  best  not  lose  a  day  more  than  necess'ry! 
I'll  make  you  a  proposition — which  you  may  accept  or 
decline  at  once.  First,  you're  to  show  me  how  to  use 
your  instruments,  myself.  I  will  then  make  half  a  dozen 
tests — to  be  quite  certain  I  can  operate  it  under  varyin' 
conditions.  If  the  tests  agree  with  those  we  have  just 
made,  I  will  at  once  draw  my  cheque  to  your  order  for  the 
sum  of  twenty  thousand  pounds,  purchasing  a  forty  per 
cent,  interest  in  the  manufacture,  leasing,  and  profits  of 
your  instruments.  After  which  I  will  take  it  upon  my- 
self to  secure  patents  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  and 
Italy — within  a  fortnight — patents  to  be  owned  by  the 
Limited  Comp'ny  we  form.  I  '11  guarantee  the  yearly  lease 
of  five  hundred  machines  at  two  hundred  pounds  each — by 
the  British  Governm'nt  or  myself — as  soon  as  they  can  be 
manufactured  under  your  supervision.  My  time  is  too 
thoroughly  occupied  to  chaffer  with  you  in  a  number  of  in- 


188  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

elusive  interviews.  If  you  don't  care  to  accept  this  offer, 
which  seems  quite  to  your  advantage,  the  matter  is  closed 
between  us  an*  you're  at  liberty  to  interest  the  Ad'mrlty 
or  any  one  else,  if  you  can."  There  was  a  moment  or  two 
of  silence  while  Meredith  jotted  down  the  proposition 
with  his  pencil — and  studied  it. 

"Say,  Mister  Lord — I  guess  you  play  poker  some  in 
your  spare  evenin's!  That  there  proposition  of  yourn 
is  kinda  like  an  ultimatum,  ain't  it?  You  know  damn 
well  I  ain't  likely  to  get  anywhere  with  the  politicians 
over  here  until  I've  worn  out  all  my  shoe-leather.  But 
I'll  take  you  up!  The  way  you  put  it  sounds  fair 
enough,  I  s'pose.  I'll  just  hammer  it  out  on  that  type- 
writer yonder;  then  we'll  both  sign  it,  an*  I'll  teach  you 
how  to  work  the  instruments.  You  needn't  pay  me  a 
cent  until  the  thing  satisfies  you,  but  we'll  sign  the  agree- 
ment first,  as  a  basis  of  understandin'.  By  the  way,  be- 
fore I  forget  it,  that  talk  you  overheard  between  Wool- 
wich and  Brussels  was  from  four  fifty-three  to  five  fifteen 
P.M.  Greenwich  time.  I  took  a  memorandum  of  it  in 
case  you  wanted  to  check  up  that  message  somewhere." 

By  half-past  six  Lord  Trevor  was  entirely  satisfied 
that  the  instruments  would  do  everything  claimed  for 
them  and  that  he  could  operate  them  without  assistance. 
In  the  next  half  hour  the  agreement  was  signed,  witnessed, 
and  the  big  cheque  on  Coutts's  Bank  handed  over  to  the 
American,  who  was  then  invited  to  dine  with  His  Lord- 
ship and  Lady  Nan — an  honor  which  he  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated as  such  in  spite  of  his  democratic  principles. 

After  he  had  left  Park  Lane  Sir  Edward  Wray  and 
Sir  Francis  Lammerford  were  summoned  by  telephone  for 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  189 

a  conference.  When  they  reached  the  house,  at  ten  in  the 
evening,  Lord  and  Lady  Trevor  were  busy  in  the 
Jacobean  library  with  hah*  a  dozen  code-books  and  sev- 
eral sheets  of  paper  upon  which  a  number  of  translations 
had  been  worked  out.  As  briefly  as  possible  the  Foreign 
Minister  and  Sir  Francis  were  given  the  facts  concerning 
Meredith's  amazing  instruments  and  the  mysterious  mes- 
sage which  had  been  picked  up. 

"Being  sent  from  Woolwich,"  said  His  Lordship,  "one 
naturally  infers  it  to  have  been  in  the  regular  Navy  code. 
But  according  to  that,  all  one  can  make  of  it  is  this — the 
blanks  representin'  words  which  do  not  occur  in  our  code 
at  all: 

"'Forty  thousand  infantry — on  duty  Sunday  night — 
northern  munition  factories — detailed  for  summer  ma- 
noeuvres— 17  Batteries  75  m\m  guns  urith  General  Staff — 
and  sentry  details — mobilization  ordered  for  23rd — trans- 
ports leaving  for  the  Cape.' 

"Of  course,  all  this  is  simply  gibberish.  In  the  Army 
and  F.  O.  codes  it  makes  no  better  sense  than  this.  I 
cawn't  be  mistaken  in  what  I  heard,  because  Meredith 
caught  enough  of  it  to  repeat  most  of  what  I'd  written  be- 
fore he  even  saw  it.  After  workin'  out  this  stuff,  it  oc- 
curred to  me  to  look  up  that  Wilhelmstrasse  code  I  man- 
aged to  sneak  out  of  Berlin  when  'Lammy'  an'  I  escaped  in 
the  zeppelin — an',  with  that,  I  made  a  coherent  message 
out  of  the  de-coding,  though  it  appears  childish  when  read: 

"'Family  scattered  for  the  present — children  are  at 
the  northern  beaches — Father  and  Mother  yachting  around 


190  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

the  Island — Fred,   and  fifteen  of  the  upper-form  lads, 
cramming  with  tutor  in  Scotland.* 

"Now,  of  course  we  know  that  none  of  His  Majesty's 
officers  are  usin'  the  station  at  Woolwich  Dockyard  for 
personal  gossip  with  pals  or  relatives  across  the  Channel 
in  times  like  these.  If  any  of  the  signal  quartermasters 
did  a  thing  of  that  sort  he'd  serve  a  month  in  clink  for  it. 
But  the  fact  that  the  message  makes  perfect  sense  in  the 
Wilhelmstrasse  code  proves  that  it  was  not  one  of  our 
officers  gossiping  with  some  friend,  an'  that  the  words  most 
assuredly  have  some  ulterior  meaning.  We  know  it's  a 
favorite  trick  of  Wilhelmstrasse  to  use  a  code  within  a 
code.  So,  merely  to  form  an  hypothesis,  let  us  assume  a 
few  arbitrary  key  words  an'  see  what  we  make  of  it.  Sup- 
pose, for  example,  the  word  family  stands  for  the  British 
North  Sea  fleet — the  word  children  for  the  light  cruiser 
squadron  or  torpedo  flotilla — the  words  Father  and  Mother, 
for  the  main  fightin'  ships — an'  Fred  and  fifteen  upper- 
form  lads  to  mean  'one  super-dreadnought  and  fifteen 
first-class  cruisers'.  Eh — what?  De-code  the  message 
on  that  basis  an*  it  reads 

"'North  Sea  Fleet  temporarily  divided — cruiser  squad- 
ron and  torpedo  flotilla  off  Skager-Rack.  Main  super- 
dreadnought  squadron  off  Heligoland.  One  battleship 
and  fifteen  cruisers  coaling  or  repairing  at  Rosyth." 

"My  word,  George!  I  wonder  whether  that's  anything 
like  the  actual  disposition  of  the  Fleet  to-night?" 

"  It  happens  to  be  the  Admir'lty  orders  to  Jellicoe — sent 
by  one  of  the  thirty-five  knot  destroyers  from  Sheerness 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  191 

this  awfternoon!  When  Meredith  told  me  at  five-fifteen 
that  Woolwich  had  been  talkin'  to  a  Telefunken  station 
in  Brussels,  I  laughed  at  him!  But  I  took  down  that 
message  myself — an'  here's  a  translation  which  corresponds, 
word  for  word,  with  the  Admir'lty  orders!  The  Rosyth 
information  was  prob'ly  sent  down  by  some  German  spy 
on  the  spot;  an'  there's  no  question  as  to  there  bein'  a 
leak  right  here.  You'd  best  get  after  that,  Ned — an' 
look  sharp!  The  baches  will  take  advawntage  of  any 
chance  they  get,  you  may  be  quite  sure!  I'm  goin'  to 
make  it  my  business  to  look  into  that  Naval  station  at 
Woolwich.  I  happen  to  know  both  of  the  signal  quarter- 
masters in  charge  of  it — an'  I'd  almost  stake  my  life  on 
their  loyalty!" 

"But — deuce  take  it,  old  chap!  The  whole  bally  thing 
is  simply  preposterous!  When  you  come  right  down  to 
scientific  facts,  isn't  your  American  inventor's  machine 
quite  as  much  so?  How  the  devil  can  you  gauge  so  closely 
the  exact  distance  of  an  electric  impulse  travelin'  thou- 
sands of  miles  a  second?" 

"How  is  it  possible  to  sit  in  a  New  York  hotel  and 
carry  on  a  conversation  with  someone  in  San  Francisco 
who  is  actually  talkin'  five  hours  later  than  you  by  the 
sun  and  the  clock?  There's  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  what 
those  instruments  do.  One  shouldn't  forget  Marconi's 
machine  on  similar  lines  which  actually  located  a  German 
station  in  Rome  three  months  ago." 

While  the  men  had  been  concentrating  upon  the  ap- 
parent treachery  in  the  wireless  station  at  Woolwich,  as 
being  of  the  first  importance,  Lady  Nan  was  trying  to  re- 
member everyone  associated  with  Admiralty  officers, 


192  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

intimately  enough  to  be  in  a  position  where  they  might 
possibly  overhear  some  of  the  secret  orders  given.  Pres- 
ently she  asked: 

"George,  can  you  give  me  an  idea  of  just  how  many 
people  would  be  likely  to  know  of  those  orders  to  the  North 
Sea  fleet  before  they  reached  Jellicoe?" 

"Why,  I  fancy  I'll  come  rawther  close  to  it,  Nan.  Bal- 
four,  as  First  Lord,  might  know  of  them  or  might  not — 
probably  not,  because  it  would  be  one  of  the  workin'  de- 
tails which  he  could  ascertain  at  any  moment  he  desired 
the  information.  But  any  of  the  four  Sea  Lords  might 
have  the  direct  handling  of  the  North  Sea  fleet — pre- 
sumably, Admir'l  Sir  Henry  Jackson,  the  First  Sea  Lord. 
An'  of  course,  that  means  their  four  private  secretaries 
also.  Then  there  would  be  Vice  Admir'l  Oliver,  Chief  of 
the  War  Staff,  an*  his  assistant,  Captain  Day;  Captain 
Hall,  Director  of  the  Intelligence  Division,  an'  his  Assist- 
ant, Captain  Smith.  The  messenger  sent  on  that  de- 
stroyer to  Jellicoe  was  Commander  John  De  Vincey — he'd 
be  the  only  one  on  the  boat  to  know  anything  about  the 
orders.  Of  course,  if  Balfour  had  discussed  them  at  all 
with  Sir  Henry,  either  his  own  Naval  secretary  or  his  two 
private  secretaries  would  be  likely  to  hear  something  of 
it.  Which  foots  up  at  least  sixteen  people  at  the  Admir- 
alty who  might  have  had  the  information.  Of  course, 
nobody  at  Woolwich  Dockyard  had  any  business  to  know 
of  the  orders  at  all!" 

She  had  been  jotting  down  the  names  as  he  gave  them, 
and  writing  several  others  opposite  each  one.  "I  know 
the  families  of  all  except  those  of  the  secretaries  to  Rear 
Admiral  Tudor  and  Commodore  Lambert — and  Captains 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  193 

Day  and  Smith.  Can  you  furnish  any  information  re- 
garding them,  'Lammy'?" 

"Yes,  but  it  would  be  unnecessary.  All  four  are 
close-mouthed  chaps  who  never  discuss  Service  affairs 
with  any  member  of  their  families.  They're  in  line  for 
very  desirable  promotion  and  would  see  that  no  act  of 
theirs  jeopardized  it.  But— er — I  fancy  you've  over- 
looked three  individuals  who  are  not  closely  connected 
with  those  we've  mentioned.  For  example,  there  is  Miss 
Violet  Wilmerton,  an  American  who  is  a  connection  of 
Lady  Ranbourne's,  and  has  been  for  several  weeks  a 
house-guest  of  the  Second  Lord's  family.  Mr.  Olav  Nord- 
stern — a  British  subject,  of  Norwegian  family — is  stopping 
in  the  home  of  the  Naval  Secretary.  And  Mrs.  De  Pey- 
ster,  a  charming  young  American  widow,  is  the  most  in- 
timate friend  of  Private  Secretary  Lampton's  wife — at 
their  house  constantly,  and  frequently  using  permits  ob- 
tained by  him  to  go  over  the  warships  with  Mrs.  Lampton. 
Of  course,  if  all  our  good  friends  are  really  as  close-mouthed 
as  we  believe,  in  the  privacy  of  their  homes,  those  three 
people  would  have  no  opportunity  for  obtaining  vital  in- 
formation; but  they  might  pick  up  something  an'  deduce 
a  lot  more,  if  they're  particularly  clever." 

"Have  you  any  reason  for  suspecting  either  of  the 
three,  'Lammy'?" 

"Not  the  slightest!  I've  met  all  of  them — frequently. 
As  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  all  hate  the  boche  as  thoroughly 
as  we  do,  and  want  the  Entente  to  win.  In  fact,  Nord- 
stern  is  unusually  bitter  for  a  man  whose  father  was  a 
Norwegian — an'  the  two  American  women  are  strongly 
partisan  in  the  way  they  talk." 


194  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"  You  say  Miss  Wilmerton  is  a  connection  of  Lady  Ran- 
bourne's — do  you  know  where  she  comes  from,  in  the 
States?  Is  there  any  one  to  whom  you  might  cable  for 
information  concerning  her?  " 

"Oh,  aye.  Her  home  is  in  Philadelphia.  My  friend 
Biddle  comes  from  one  of  the  old  Philadelphia  families — 
knows  everybody's  great-grandfather.  He  frequently 
gives  me  valuable  pointers;  in  fact,  our  correspondence  is 
such  an  active  one  that  we  have  our  own  private  code  for 
cablegrams." 

"Hmph!  I  wish  you'd  humor  my  curiosity,  Tammy,' 
by  cabling  him  now — concerning  Miss  Wilmerton!" 

"Certainly — if  you  wish."  (Taking  a  small  memo- 
randum-book from  an  inner  pocket,  Lammerford  rapidly 
jotted  down  a  cipher  cablegram  which  was  promptly  dis- 
patched over  Lord  Trevor's  private  wire  to  the  cable 
office,  where  it  was  censored  and  passed  without  delay.) 

"You  speak  as  if  you  had  some  reason  for  bein'  sus- 
picious of  the  young  woman,  Nan?" 

"I'd  no  idea  she  was  staying  as  a  guest  in  Hamilton 
House  until  you  told  me.  She  went  about  quite  a  good 
deal,  last  winter,  with  our  friend  Chudleigh  Sammis,  M.P. 
— whom  we  know  for  a  Wilhelmstrasse  spy.  After  we 
broke  up  that  conspiracy  to  influence  the  Cabinet  Min- 
isters, and  caused  twenty-five  well-known  people  to  dis- 
appear from  London  so  mysteriously,  she  apparently 
quarreled  with  him  for  something  he  said  or  did — and 
hasn't  been  seen  with  him  since.  If  it  was  something 
which  made  her  suspect  his  loyalty  to  England  was  a  trifle 
lukewarm,  that  quarrel  is  the  best  guarantee  we  could 
have  as  to  her  own  honesty.  But  if  they  only  pretended 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  195 

to  break  off  the  friendship  because  they  feared  he  was 
under  suspicion,  and  didn't  wish  to  jeopardize  her  own  op- 
portunities for  doing  Wilhelmstrasse  work — eh?  That's 
really  quite  as  possible  as  the  other  theory,  you  know." 

For  two  hours  longer  they  discussed  various  possibili- 
ties connected  with  the  leak  at  the  Admiralty.  Then 
Sabub  Ali  came  up  from  the  telegraph-cellar  with  a  code- 
message  for  Sir  Francis  Lammerford — just  received  from 
Philadelphia,  and  passed  by  the  Censor. 

"Violet's  parents,  Thomas  K.  Wilmerton — first  cousin, 
Lady  Susan — 2nd  wife,  Lord  Ranbourne — and  Hilda  von 
Schemmerling,  born  Charlottenberg,  aristocratic  Prussian 
family.  With  exception  one  other  intermarriage,  1794, 
with  Helmuths  of  Vienna,  Wilmertons  American  stock 
since  1760.  Thomas  K.  importer  dyestuffs — factories  in 
Germany  and  Austria.  Violet  said  to  be  engaged,  May, 
1914,  Lieut.  Karl  von  Ingen — German  Embassy.  En- 
gagement supposed  broken  last  year." 

When  Sir  Francis  had  read  the  message  to  them,  an 
expression  of  amazed  understanding  appeared  in  each  face. 

"My  word,  Nan!  Your  intuitions  are  a  bit  uncanny 
at  times!  Faith,  I  fancy  this  settles  Miss  Violet  Wilmer- 
ton's  standing  in  England!  No  bally  doubt  of  it!  She's 
been  workin'  with  that  cursed  fiance  of  hers  in  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse service  ever  since  she  came  over  here — an'  Chud- 
leigh  Sammis  very  shrewdly  gave  her  the  tip  to  quarrel 
with  him  the  moment  the  Cabinet  plot  fell  through.  D'ye 
know,  that  bounder  is  breathin'  a  lot  easier,  just  now — he 
fancies  we  somehow  missed  him  altogether  in  that  affair, 
an'  is  beginnin'  to  be  a  bit  more  careless  in  regard  to  the 


196  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

people  he  talks  with.  I  was  against  lettin'  him  alone  when 
Nan  suggested  it — but  I'll  frankly  admit  she  was  right. 
He's  the  most  valuable  stool-pigeon  in  England  to-day!" 
"Well,  on  the  ground  of  circumstantial  evidence,  we 
may  as  well  assume  that  the  Admiralty  leak  is  through 
this  Wilmerton  woman.  Even  at  the  risk  of  havin'  im- 
portant information  get  across  the  Channel.  I  fawncy 
we'd  best  let  her  alone  for  the  present,  in  Hamilton  House, 
an'  have  Downing  Street  men  track  her,  every  step  she 
takes.  She  has  confederates — prob'ly  in  various  places. 
By  watchin'  her  constantly  we  '11  get  them  before  they  can 
do  much  damage."  (This  decision  was  to  cost  the  Brit- 
ish Navy  several  of  its  biggest  cruisers  and  seven  thousand 
heroic  British  sailors — as  it  worked  out.  Yet,  neverthe- 
less, it  gave  England  control  of  the  Baltic  and  tightened 
the  blockade  around  Germany.) 

Next  morning,  accompanied  by  a  senior  captain  from 
the  Admiralty,  Lord  Trevor  motored  to  Woolwich.  With- 
out referring,  at  first,  to  the  wireless  station,  they  ob- 
tained information  as  to  the  occupations  of  every  man  on 
duty  at  the  royal  arsenal  and  the  Dockyard  during  the 
previous  afternoon.  As  His  Lordship  had  expected,  no 
one  had  been  in  the  operating-room  of  the  wireless  station 
but  the  quartermasters  detailed  there  for  signal  duty. 
When  they  finally  went  into  the  operating-room,  the  two 
quartermasters  recognized  His  Lordship  at  once  as  the 
Admiral  who  had  recommended  them  for  promotion  after 
very  creditable  service  under  him  at  the  Dardanelles. 

"  Wilkins — you  and  Munn  were  on  duty  here  yesterday 
afternoon?" 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  197 

"Aye,  sir." 

"Was  any  one  else  around  this  station — either  in  this 
room,  on  the  roof,  climbing  the  aerial  masts  to  make  re- 
pairs— or,  say,  within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  building, 
during  your  watch?" 

"No  one  but  the  engine-room  artificer  in  charge  of  the 
petrol-motors  in  the  cellar,  \sir." 

"You're  positive  of  that,  are  you?" 

"Aye,  sir — quite  positive." 

"What  were  you  doing  at  two-bells — an'  during  the 
fifteen  minutes  afterward?" 

"  'Avin'  our  tea  an'  cakes,  sir.  Sheerness  was  relievin* 
us  for  twenty  minutes  while  we  b'ils  our  tea  an'  'as  our 
bite,  sir — as  is  customary,  sir.  We  tikes  their  calls  durin* 
the  'arf-hour  just  before  that,  sir." 

"Then,  as  far  as  you  know,  there  was  no  message  sent 
from  this  station  between  four-fifty  and  five-fifteen  yes- 
terday afternoon?" 

"None  whatever,  sir!  The  artificer  will  tell  you  the 
motors  an'  dynamos  was  shut  down  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  both  sides  of  two-bells,  sir." 

"Er — just  where  are  your  aerial  connections?" 

"Right  away  'ere,  sir — these  two  heavy  insulated  wires 
w'ich  Your  Ludship  can  see  goin'  up  through  the  roof  in 
them  two  iron  pipes.  Outside  the  roof,  they're  in  plain 
sight,  right  away  up  to  the  aerials.  The  lightnin'-arrester 
connection  is  just  'ere,  sir,  above  the  operatin'  table — 
you  can  see  the  wires  leadin'  out  above  the  window,  an* 
down  into  the  ground." 

"Any  metal  connection  between  the  aerials  and  the 
skeleton-steel  masts?" 


198  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"No,  sir — none  whatsomever.  The  grid,  an'  even  the 
supportin'  guys,  is  insulated  from  the  masts." 

That  he  might  leave  nothing  to  chance,  Trevor  ordered 
a  couple  of  the  dockyard  men  to  dig  down  as  far  as  the 
plates  to  which  the  wires  from  the  lightning-arrester 
were  fastened — three  feet  underground,  outside  the  sta- 
tion— but  no  other  connection  to  them  was  found.  Nor 
was  there  any  trace  of  underground  wires  connecting  with 
the  tall  skeleton  masts.  In  fact,  the  only  possibility  His 
Lordship  could  see  for  the  sending  of  an  enemy  message 
from  that  particular  station  lay  in  the  treachery  of  the  two 
quartermasters — who  had  each  served  three  enlistments 
in  the  Royal  navy  and  had  been  detailed  with  him  for  ex- 
ceedingly dangerous  service  in  the  Levant.  It  was  a  pos- 
sibility which  he  considered  so  dim  a  one  that  he  refused  to 
accept  it  until  conviction  was  forced  upon  him. 

While  Trevor  and  Captain  Marshall  were  in  the  wire- 
less station  a  party  of  three  naval  officers  and  two  very 
attractive  women  had  motored  down  for  a  visit  of  in- 
spection to  the  big  dockyard.  Civilians  were  not  allowed 
on  the  premises,  during  the  war,  unless  in  exceptional 
cases;  but  one  of  the  ladies  happened  to  be  the  wife  of  a 
prominent  naval  officer,  and  the  other  an  intimate  friend 
who  had  been  for  some  time  a  guest  in  her  house. 

As  they  got  out  of  their  car  a  junior  lieutenant  sud- 
denly appeared,  with  some  communication  for  the 
captain  who  was  showing  the  ladies  about.  The  dis- 
cussion of  his  message  was  seemingly  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  keep  them  talking  as  the  group  strolled  along 
through  the  dockyard,  but  the  lieutenant  did  his  best  to 
keep  an  unobtrusive  eye  upon  Miss  Violet  Wilmerton. 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  199 

She  appeared  very  much  interested  in  everything  they 
saw — asking  questions  and  making  comparisons  with 
American  naval  yards.  Here  and  there,  some  warrant 
officer  hi  charge  of  a  detail  was  introduced  to  her  and 
asked  to  explain  his  particular  work.  None  of  these  in- 
troductions was  overlooked  by  the  lieutenant,  who  was 
discussing  Service  matters  with  her  friend's  husband — 
but  without  making  the  espionage  so  marked  as  to  be- 
tray him,  it  was  impossible  to  be,  in  each  instance,  close 
enough  to  overhear  every  remark  she  made. 

So  it  happened  that  the  lieutenant  missed,  altogether, 
the  few  words  breathed  without  a  motion  of  the  lips  into 
the  ear  of  a  young  artificer  who  was  explaining  to  her  the 
operation  of  a  lathe  in  one  of  the  machine-shops:  "I 
am  dropping  a  little  wad  of  paper  by  the  edge  of  my  skirt. 
Put  your  foot  on  it.  Wait  until  we  are  out  of  the  shop!" 
In  the  next  breath,  she  thanked  him,  audibly,  for  ex- 
plaining his  machine  to  her,  and  walked  on  with  the  others. 

The  artificer  bowed,  and  stood  where  he  was  until 
they  had  passed  through  the  door;  then  he  resumed  his 
directing  of  the  men  under  him.  But  as  he  stepped  along 
any  one  who  had  seen  the  wad  of  paper  fall  by  Miss 
Wilmerton's  skirt  would  have  wondered  what  became  of 
it.  It  was  nowhere  visible — either  under  the  lathe  or  any- 
where on  the  floor. 

At  noon  Garraway — the  "artificer" — was  off  duty  for 
the  afternoon  watch.  While  changing  from  overalls 
into  his  service  uniform,  one  of  his  mates  noticed  him 
prying  off  with  his  jack-knife,  from  the  sole  of  his  shoe,  a 
lump  of  pitch  Jn  which  something  was  sticking — and  ap- 
parently tossing  the  object  through  the  window  into  the 


200  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

river.  That  was  all  there  was  to  it — a  perfectly  natural 
action  which  the  other  man  never  thought  of  again.  As 
Garraway  happened  to  be  a  good  conduct  man,  he  was 
privileged  to  leave  the  Dockyard  in  his  off-watch — so, 
after  duly  reporting,  he  walked  along  Church  and  High 
streets  until  he  came  to  the  little  ferry,  and  took  the  first 
boat  across  to  North  Woolwich  on  the  other  bank  of  the 
Thames. 

Lord  Trevor,  having  left  Captain  Marshall  in  the  com- 
mandant's quarters  for  an  hour  or  so,  had  taken  the  no- 
tion for  a  walk  about  the  river-streets  of  North  Woolwich, 
with  the  object  of  getting  a  look  at  the  wireless-masts 
from  across  the  Thames — and  was  on  the  same  boat.  Al- 
though in  one  of  his  habitual  gray  morning  suits,  he  was  so 
frequently  recognized  and  saluted  as  an  admiral  that  Gar- 
raway's  fingers  instinctively  went  to  his  cap  as  he  caught 
His  Lordship's  glance — thereby  leaving  a  subconscious 
photograph  of  his  face  and  appearance  at  the  back  of  the 
peer's  brain — to  be  recalled  later. 

Garraway  left  the  boat  ahead  of  His  Lordship  and 
walked  smartly  along  North  Woolwich  Road  until  he  came 
to  the  corner  of  Tate  Street,  up  which  he  turned  until 
he  reached  an  unpretentious  saloon  upon  the  ground 
floor  of  a  cheap  boarding-house.  For  no  conscious  reason 
Lord  Trevor  had  kept  his  swinging  athletic  figure  in  view, 
as  they  walked  along,  and  rather  aimlessly  turned  up  Tate 
Street  after  the  man.  The  door  of  the  pub  swung  open 
as  the  Viscount  passed — and  he  saw  Garraway  seated  at 
a  sloppy  table  in  the  farther  corner  with  a  stiff  glass  of 
rum  before  him. 

For  half  an  hour  His  Lordship  walked  about  the  short 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  201 

streets  of  North  Woolwich  and  Silverton — getting  views 
of  the  towering  wireless-masts  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
river  from  various  angles.  Then  it  occurred  to  him  that 
he  might  beckon  the  warrant-officer  out  of  the  groggery 
and  ask  him  a  few  casual  questions  about  the  locality. 
But,  when  he  returned  and  glanced  in  at  the  door,  Garra- 
way  had  collapsed  in  his  chair,  with  arms  and  head  upon 
the  sloppy  table — apparently  in  a  drunken  sleep — and  it 
seemed  useless  to  meddle  with  him. 

Had  Trevor  obeyed  his  first  impulse — entered  the  place 
and,  shaking  the  man  into  consciousness,  compelled  his 
return  to  the  dockyard — a  life  which  England  could  ill 
afford  to  lose  might  not  have  been  snuffed  out  at  its 
zenith. 

There  was  everything  of  common-sense  against  such 
an  action — nothing  in  the  least  suspicious  about  Garra- 
way — yet  the  intuition  was  there,  dormant,  in  His  Lord- 
ship's mind — the  infinitessimal  chance  granted  by  fate. 
And  common-sense  prevailed — as  it  was  probably  writ- 
ten that  it  would  prevail. 

At  the  lower  end  of  Tate  Street  an  enormous  gas-tank, 
with  a  smaller  one  alongside,  shut  out  the  view  of  the 
river  from  that  point.  Trevor  had  not  realized,  until  he 
stood  looking  directly  up  at  them,  the  colossal  size  of  the 
larger  one  or  the  probable  height  of  its  framework  from 
the  ground-level.  Between  it  and  the  chemical  works 
there  was  a  petroleum-soaked  field  extending  to  the  water 
bulkhead.  Crossing  the  railway  line,  he  walked  over 
this  to  the  river — noticing  that  a  five-foot  sewer  emptied 
into  the  Thames  in  a  line  with  Tate  Street,  and  that  a 
refuse-drain  from  the  big  gas-tank  evidently  had  been  con- 


202  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

nected  with  it,  judging  by  the  faint  indications  of  an  old 
excavation  which  still  remained  across  the  middle  of  the 
field.  Finally,  as  he  had  discovered  no  fresh  evidence  on 
that  side  of  the  river,  His  Lordship  returned  to  the  dockyard. 

Meanwhile  the  ex-pugilist  who  served  as  barman  in 
the  pub  had  noticed  Garraway's  condition.  With  the 
help  of  another  man,  he  carried  the  warrant-officer  back 
through  a  narrow  passage  and  down  to  a  furnished  cellar 
which  extended  under  the  yard  at  the  back  of  the  building. 
It  was  such  an  action  as  one  may  see  in  the  low  groggeries 
of  a  great  city  any  day  in  the  year — and  aroused  not 
the  slightest  comment  from  the  half-dozen  men  who  were 
drinking  in  the  bar  at  the  time.  It  was  merely  lugging 
a  regular  patron  to  a  private  room  where  he  could  sleep 
off  his  drunk — or  possibly  from  where  he  might  be  shang- 
haied aboard  some  outgoing  steamer.  They  neither  knew 
nor  cared. 

But  when  the  massive  door  of  the  cellar  bedroom  was 
closed  after  the  barman,  Garraway  sat  up  on  the  bed,  per- 
fectly sober — drawing  from  his  pocket  a  soiled  and  gummy 
wad  of  paper  which  he  proceeded  to  straighten  out.  Upon 
it  was  penciled: 

"Herbert,  David  and  party  have  decided  to  start  on  their 
yachting  trip  from  the  North  of  Scotland,  June  5th.  The 
change  will  do  us  all  good,  and  I  hope  you  loillfeel  like  join- 
ing the  party.  I  think  there  will  be  no  trouble  about  obtain- 
ing *  leave'  for  you — possibly  we  can  have  you  ordered 
upon  a  scouting  detail  aboard  the  yacht  'Hampshire.' ' 

Rolling  aside  a  massive  wardrobe  that  stood  against 
one  of  the  walls,  reaching  almost  to  the  ceiling,  he 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  203 

opened  a  door  which  had  been  concealed  behind  it, 
walked  through  another  passage — and  stepped  into  a  sub- 
terranean room  which  had  been  fitted  up  as  a  secret  wire- 
less-station. A  man  was  seated  at  the  operating-table 
with  receivers  clamped  over  his  ears — listening  intently. 
But  as  Garraway  came  in,  he  took  off  the  head-frame  and 
whirled  around  in  his  swivel-chair. 

" Ach  !  Mein  lieber  Von — er — Garraway!  Soh!  You 
have  something  fresh  to  communicate?  Yes?" 

"I  should  say  I  had!  But  first — tell  me,  Karl!  Are 
you  taking  the  chance  of  sending  anything  at  this  time  of 
day?" 

"Nein  I  Nein!  Though,  if  it  wass  necessary,  I  would! 
Look  you — those  fools  across  the  river  at  Woolwich,  they 
use  always  the  two- thousand-metre  wave,  because  they  know 
that  all  calls  for  their  station  will  be  sent  at  that  length. 
Of  course — ja  I — of  course — maybe  six  or  ten  times  every 
day  they  made  adjustment  of  t'e  audion  to  listen  for 
other  wave-lengths  for  a  minute.  But  they  pay  no  at- 
tention. I  haf  lissen  too  often  mit  them.  So,  if  when 
they  just  stop  talking  with  someone  I  begin  sending 
at  twenty-five  hundredt — or  twelve  hundred! — they 
would  notice  nothing,  even  though  we  axe  here  almost 
alongside  of  them.  But  meinself — I  wait  until  they  take 
their  tea — with  the  receivers  off  then*  ears — at  five  o'clock. 
Now,  tell,  me,  mein  Graf,  wass  Mt  f 

"Secret  service  for  me,  I  think.  That  girl  Violet  beats 
the  devil!  How  she  manages  to  pick  up  what  she  does,  I 
can't  imagine — but  her  information  has  been  right  every 
time.  She  says  it  has  been  decided  that  Kitchener,  Lloyd- 
George,  and  *KY  staff  are  to  leave  one  of  the  ports  in  the 


204  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

extreme  north  of  Scotland,  June  5th,  on  the  cruiser  Hamp- 
shire !  They're  going  up  to  Archangel,  and  then  to  Pet- 
rograd.  Conference  on  the  summer  campaign,  of  course. 
Violet  says  she  can  get  me  detailed  to  the  Hampshire — 
but  if  not,  I  '11  have  twenty-four  hours'  notice  and  will  man- 
age to  sneak  aboard,  up  there,  on  some  excuse  or  other. 
Cruiser  will  be  coaling,  anyhow;  I  can  stow  away  as  one 
of  the  coal-passers  from  the  scow  alongside." 

"Soh!  Undt  when  that  cruiser  goes  mit  Davy  Jones, 
you  are  prepared  to  go  mit  her,  mein  Graf  ?" 

"Oh,  I  must  take  my  chance,  of  course.  But  I've  won 
five  medals  for  long-distance  swimming,  and  I'll  wear  a 
rubber  vest  which  I  can  inflate  after  I'm  in  the  wate«v 
I'll  get  to  the  magazine  before  we're  too  far  from  land — 
you  may  be  quite  sure  of  that ! " 

Leaving  certain  instructions  with  the  commandant  at 
Woolwich,  Lord  Trevor  and  Captain  Marshall  motored 
back  to  the  West  End,  reaching  Park  Lane  by  five 
o'clock.  In  spite  of  the  most  careful  investigation,  they 
couldn't  see  how  it  was  possible  for  the  Brussels  message 
to  have  been  sent  from  the  Dockyard  wireless  station 
unless  one  or  both  of  the  quartermasters  in  charge  were 
traitors — and  His  Lordship  wouldn't  even  consider  this, 
as  yet.  There  was  a  vague  impression  growing  in  his  mind 
that  the  solution  of  the  mystery  lay  in  a  different  locality 
— but  he  could  find  no  clue  to  follow  up. 

The  menace,  however,  appeared  so  dangerous  to  him 
that  he  determined  to  risk  a  personal  investigation  across 
the  Channel.  Telephoning  his  mecanicien  and  companion 
in  many  flights,  at  Trevor  Hall  in  Devonshire,  he  ordered 
him  to  start  at  once  with  their  largest  cruising  biplane — 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  203 

capable  of  remaining  in  the  air  sixty  hours,  with  four  men 
and  a  machine-gun — and  come  down  in  Hyde  Park, 
opposite  his  town  residence. 

At  ten  that  evening  a  typical  German  officer,  with  full, 
round  face  and  upturned  blond  moustache,  drove  out  of 
Lord  Trevor's  grounds  in  a  touring  car  with  Sir  Edward 
Wray — whose  presence  alone  prevented  the  German's 
arrest  by  the  Park  police  as  they  turned  into  the  Ring 
from  Marble  Arch  and  walked  across  the  turf  to  a  ghostly 
biplane  which  lay  there  like  a  gigantic  bat.  It  was  assumed 
that  if  the  Foreign  Minister  vouched  for  an  officer  in  the 
gray-green  of  the  German  army,  that  obnoxious  individual 
must  be  certainly  a  Downing  Street  man  in  disguise. 

Silently — thanks  to  a  muffler  patented  by  His  Lordship 
— the  great  aeroplane  soared  up  over  the  roofs  of  London 
and  disappeared,  flying  east  at  a  90-mile  clip.  Six  hours 
later  it  flew  over  Cuxhaven — the  estuary  of  the  Elbe — and 
the  length  of  the  Kiel  Canal,  at  an  altitude  of  two  hundred 
metres.  Fortunately  the  air  was  so  clear  that,  with  his 
prism  binoculars,  Trevor  could  distinctly  make  out  every 
ship,  steamer,  or  war-craft  below  them — and,  as  the  noise 
from  the  exhaust  was  entirely  silenced  by  the  wonderful 
muffler,  their  presence  was  unnoticed  except  when  lights 
from  below  were  reflected  from  the  wings  of  the  biplane. 
Then — they  disappeared  so  quickly  that  the  few  scatter- 
ing shots  missed  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

It  had  been  assumed  at  the  Admiralty  that  practically  all 
of  the  German  high  seas  fleet  was  lying  in  the  Canal,  ready 
to  steam  out  into  the  Baltic  or  the  North  Sea,  wherever  the 
battleships  might  be  used  with  safety  and  advantage — 
in  fact,  that  it  had  been  lying  there  for  nearly  a  year,  more 


206  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

or  less  intact.  But,  to  His  Lordship's  amazement,  he  could 
see  only  five  of  the  smallest  cruisers  below  him.  Flying 
over  the  Kiel  dockyards,  he  made  out  the  dim  shapes  of 
two  superdreadnoughts  about  half  completed,  under  im- 
mense gantries.  In  the  harbor  were  two  small  cruisers 
and  a  few  torpedo-boats — also  what  appeared  to  be  a 
couple  of  submarines,  flush  with  the  sea. 

The  mysterious  absence  of  the  main  fleet  was  beginning 
to  have  a  sinister  appearance.  If  not  in  the  Canal  or  at 
Kiel,  where  was  it?  For  the  next  two  hours  Trevor  flew 
back  and  forth  over  the  Danish  Islands  and  the  Catte- 
gat — until,  just  at  daybreak,  he  sighted  a  great  flotilla 
clustered  in  Jammer  Bay  off  the  north  coast  of  Denmark 
and  well  inshore.  Flying  close  enough  to  make  out  the 
various  units  and  count  them — the  great  superdread- 
noughts Hindenburg,  Dresden,  and  three  others  of  the  same 
class,  with  a  number  of  lesser  battleships  and  cruisers, 
surrounded  by  torpedo  and  submarine  squadrons — they 
whirled  the  biplane  about  before  they  were  clearly  seen 
and  headed  for  London  on  the  *wings  of  a  northeast 
wind  that  gave  them  something  over  a  hundred  miles  an 
hour. 

It  was  nearly  one  in  the  afternoon  when  Trevor — who 
had  managed  to  change  from  the  German  uniform  intoBrit- 
ish  khaki  and  soak  off  the  blond  moustache — came  down 
again  in  Hyde  Park.  In  the  house  he  found  Sir  Francis 
Lammerf ord  with  Lady  Nan — spending  a  part  of  the  after- 
noon in  the  hope  that  some  message  would  come  in  from 
the  two  aviators  in  case  their  daring  flight  over  the  German 
naval  base  had  proved  successful.  Without  even  waiting 
to  change  his  clothes,  Trevor  at  once  took  them  down  with 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  207 

him  to  the  wireless  cellar  and  connected  a  couple  of  spare 
head-frames  in  order  that  they  might  listen-in. 

"If  I  can 't  solve  the  mystery  of  that  Woolwich  message 
within  an  hour  or  two,  we're  facin'  a  serious  risk.  The 
entire  German  high  seas  fleet  is  hiding  up  off  the  north 
coast  of  Denmark — with  what  appear  to  be  a  dozen  ocean 
raiders  behind  them!  I  fawncy  the  idea  is  to  come  out  in 
force,  engage  our  light-cruiser  squadron  an'  keep  'em  busy 
while  those  raiders  sneak  out  to  sea  an'  scatter  all  over  the 
world!  If  I'd  had  pontoons  under  the  'plane,  I  should 
have  risked  bein'  shot  an'  come  down  in  the  middle  of 
Jellicoe's  main  battle-fleet — but  we'd  have  been  drowned 
or  blown  to  atoms  before  there  would  have  been  any  chance 
to  explain,  d'ye  see !  As  it  is,  I  should  be  gettin'  Jellicoe 
by  wireless  this  very  instant — an'  sendin'  him  up  to  the 
Skager-Rack  as  fast  as  ever  he  can  steam  there!  But  if 
I  do  so,  the  bounders  who  are  playin'  tricks  on  us  at  Wool- 
wich are  sure  to  catch  the  message — de-code  it — an'  warn 
the  German  fleet  before  Hood  an'  Beatty  can  get  rein- 
forcements. If  by  any  unimaginable  luck  I  could  stumble 
upon  some  clue  to  that  mystery  down  the  river — 

He  had  been  adjusting  the  receivers  over  his  ears  as  he 
spoke — and  suddenly  his  figure  stiffened  into  alertness. 
Some  operator  within  a  near-by  radius  was  calling  B-X-B 
— B-X-B — B-X-By  the  number  of  the  Brussels  station. 
Carefully,  but  as  rapidly  as  his  unfamiliarity  with  the 
instruments  permitted,  His  Lordship  manipulated  the 
switches  and  set-screws  of  Meredith's  detector  while 
Sir  Francis  took  down  the  message.  Figuring  the  result 
from  the  compass  and  dial-indicators,  he  made  the  location 
exactly  twenty-three  miles — E.  f  S. — which  indicated 


208  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Woolwich  on  the  map,  without  a  chance  of  mistake. 
When  Lamrnerford  had  written  out  the  message  and  de- 
ciphered it  from  the  Wilhelmstrasse  code,  it  read : 

"Light  cruiser  squadron  now  in  mouth  of  Skager-Rack. 
Main  battle-fleet  twelve  hours  away,  at  best  steaming,  and 
gradually  moving  south.  Attack  in  four  or  five  hours." 

Trevor  snatched  up  one  of  the  telephones  and  called  the 
Admiralty,  over  his  private  wire,  asking  the  operator  to 
put  him  on  to  the  Commandant's  private  telephone  at 
Woolwich. 

"Are  you  there,  Admir'l?  Are  you  there!  Ah!  Tell 
me  at  once,  if  you  please,  just  what  messages  have  been 
sent  from  your  wireless-station  within  the  lawst  twenty 
minutes!" 

In  less  than  three  moments  the  answer  came: 

"Last  message  sent  was  at  one-fifteen,  Your  Lordship! 
Merely  final  instructions  to  one  of  our  cruisers  off  Ushant. 
Leftenant  Baylis  has  been  in  the  operating  room  since 
eight-bells  with  Munn  and  Wilkins.  I've  just  spoken 
with  him  over  the  telephone,  and  he  gives  me  this  report." 

"Thank  you  very  much,  Admir'l!  Er — I  say — could 
you  send  a  detail,  fully  armed,  across  the  ferry,  an'  have 
them  meet  me  at  the  corner  of  Leonard  Street  an'  North 
Woolwich  Road  in  possibly  three-quarters  of  an  hour? 
You'll  do  so?  Er — thanks!  Have  two  of  the  men  fetch 
their  hip-boots  an'  oilskins !  I'll  run  down  at  once.  ('Lam- 
my,'  just  push  the  button  on  that  emergency- wire  for  one 
of  the  eight-cylinder  tourin'  cars,  will  you?  Then  it'll 
be  ready  to  start  by  the  time  we  get  up  in  the  hall!)  " 

"What's  the  idea,  old  chap?" 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  209 

"I  haven't  it  entirely  worked  out — yet!  But  I  fancy 
we  '11  get  the  solution  of  the  mystery  in  North  Woolwich, 
directly  across  the  Thames  from  the  wireless-station. 
There's  one  thing  positive!  This  message  was  not  sent 
from  the  Navy  station.  I  had  the  ground  all  turned  up 
around  the  bases  of  the  skeleton-masts  an'  the  shack  which 
houses  the  wireless  plant — no  trace  of  any  wire  connec- 
tions, an'  nobody  was  at  the  key  when  this  lawst  message 
was  sent.  Now  the  distance  across  the  river  is  so  short 
that  even  this  instrument  of  Meredith's  wouldn't  detect 
the  difference,  twenty-three  miles  away.  Anything  sent 
from  North  Woolwich  undoubtedly  works  out  with  this 
detector  the  same  as  the  Dockyard " 

"But — er — why  there  any  more  than  somewhere  in  the 
town  of  Woolwich  itself,  outside  of  the  Dockyard  an* 
Arsenal?" 

"Well,  it's  merely  a  hunch,  of  course,  as  the  Americans 
say.  But,  d'rectly  across  the  river  from  the  Dockyard  is 
one  of  the  largest  gas-tanks  in  East  London — the  sup- 
portin'  framework  must  be  nearly  two  hundred  feet  high. 
A  hundred  and  fifty  feet  east  of  it  there's  a  five-foot 
sewer,  under  open  ground  on  a  line  with  Tate  Street, 
which  empties  into  the  Thames.  An'  some  time  within 
a  couple  of  years,  a  smaller  connection  has  been  laid  be- 
tween that  gas-tank  an'  the  big  sewer — possibly  to  drain 
off  petroleum  refuse.  There  are  chimneys  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, plenty  of  them,  but  I  could  see  nothin'  within 
a  mile  radius  as  high  as  that  tank,  exceptin'  only  the  Dock- 
yard wireless-masts.  It  presents  possibilities  which 
nothin'  else  does.  Come  along!  We've  not  a  moment 
to  lose!" 


210  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

They  found  twenty  sailors  waiting  for  them  under  the 
command  of  a  midshipman  three  blocks  west  of  the  gas- 
tank.  On  the  way  down,  Trevor  had  remembered  the 
artificer,  Garraway,  drunk  in  the  Tate  Street  pub — and 
had  been  speculating  upon  the  general  appearance  of  the 
place.  It  stood  within  a  few  feet  of  the  sewer — a  vague 
suspicion  concerning  it  had  been  growing  in  his  mind.  So 
he  ordered  ten  of  the  sailors  around  into  Tate  Street  from 
the  north — telling  them  to  stand  on  the  sidewalk  outside 
and  send  in  two  or  three  men  at  a  time  to  buy  drinks,  as 
if  they  were  merely  awaiting  orders  and  had  no  suspicion 
of  the  place.  The  men  with  oilskins  and  rubber  boots  he 
ordered  across  the  open  field  to  the  river  bulkhead  and 
told  them  to  wade  up  inside  of  the  five-foot  sewer — search- 
ing with  electric  torches  for  heavily  insulated  wires  along 
the  west  side  of  the  culvert.  The  rest  he  posted  in  North 
Woolwich  Road,  near  the  corner  of  Tate  Street. 

In  half  an  hour  the  men  who  had  been  searching  the 
sewer  came  up  to  report  that  they  had  found  two  wires 
resembling,  in  size,  the  trunk  feeders  of  a  trolley-line — 
coming  out  of  a  twelve-inch  pipe  opposite  the  big  gas-tank 
and  disappearing  through  a  hole  in  the  west  side  of  the 
culvert  eight  hundred  feet  from  the  river.  They  had 
paced  the  distance  across  the  open  field  and  estimated  the 
spot  to  be,  approximately,  where  the  sailors  were  stand- 
ing— outside  the  pub. 

That  was  enough.  The  saloon  was  suddenly  raided 
and  wires  found  in  the  cellar  leading  back  to  the  under- 
ground operating-room — where  the  man  Karl  and  two 
accomplices  were  taken  after  a  desperate  resistance,  dur- 
ing which  one  of  the  sailors  was  killed  and  three  others 


THE  SKAGER-RACK— AND  KITCHENER  211 

badly  wounded.  The  spies  and  the  barman  were  taken 
out  to  the  open  field — stood  upon  the  river  bulkhead — and 
summarily  shot,  in  the  presence  of  several  hundred  spec- 
tators who  lined  Factory  Road.  Examination  of  the  big 
gas-tank  showed  the  connections  to  have  been  made  with 
heavy  copper  wires  inside  the  hollow  steel  columns  which 
upheld  the  towering  framework. 

As  the  spies  were  being  executed,  Trevor  was  in  the 
Dockyard  wireless  station,  persistently  calling  the  flag- 
ship of  Admiral  Jellicoe's  fleet  until  she  answered — and 
urging  the  Admiral  to  hurry  toward  the  Skager-Rack  as 
fast  as  he  could  steam.  That  the  warning  came  too  late 
to  save  a  few  of  England's  finest  cruisers  and  nearly  seven 
thousand  sailor-heroes  was  due  to  the  unfortunate  com- 
bination of  circumstances — but  the  delayed  attack  by  the 
heavier  units  of  the  fleet  resulted  in  the  destruction  of 
practically  all  the  German  raiders  that  had  tried  to  sneak 
out,  and  the  passage  into  the  Baltic  of  five  powerful  Eng- 
lish cruisers. 

A  week  later  a  survivor  of  the  cruiser  Hampshire — 
desperately  clinging  to  a  fragment  of  the  signal-spar, 
after  seeing  the  heroic  "K.  of  K."  go  down  to  his  ocean 
tomb — noticed  one  of  his  messmates,  an  artificer,  by  name 
of  Garraway,  calmly  inflating  a  rubber  vest  which  kept 
him  afloat  without  the  slightest  exertion.  In  a  single 
flash  of  comprehension  he  recalled  having  seen  the  man 
go  into  the  magazine,  fifteen  minutes  before  the  explosion, 
to  repair  some  rubber  packing  around  the  door — and 
realized  what  must  have  been  in  the  kit-bag  he  carried. 
Knowing  he  was  doomed  never  to  reach  the  shore  in  that 


21S  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

heavy  sea — which  rolled  him  under  the  spar  every  few 
moments — he  grinned  with  indomitable  purpose  at  the 
scoundrel's  life-preserving  vest,  and  managed  to  draw  his 
service  automatic  from  its  holster.  The  weapon  spoke 
twice.  Garraway  threw  up  his  arms,  gasped,  and  rolled 
over  face  downward — the  air  whistling  out  of  his  bloody, 
punctured  vest. 

"Damn  ye  f'r  a  bloody,  murderin'  boche,  Garraway! 
An'  I  'opes  ye '11  find  it  so  bally  'ot  in  'ell,  when  ye  gits 
below,  that  the  blubber '11  sizzle  off'n  yer  bones — s'elp  me! 
I'm  a-goin',  my  own  self,  in  a  little  while,  Garraway — but 
I  'opes  it  '11  be  to  the  place  where  I  can  stand  salutin'  when 
Kitchener  goes  by  with  Gabriel  an'  '  Bobs ' ! " 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    MYSTERIOUS    CAMP    IN    THE    PYRENEES 

THE  entertainment  at  Stalton  House  in  aid  of  the 
allied  Field  Hospitals  included  dancing  in  the 
stately  old  Tudor  balboom,  with  "  bridge"  in  the 
smaller  rooms  at  either  side.  Among  those  on  the  floor, 
Lord  and  Lady  Trevor  had  been  attracting  attention  by 
their  perfect  dancing  of  an  intricate  variation  in  the  Ar- 
gentine tango — but  they  were  by  no  means  the  only  ce- 
lebrities who  had  temporarily  deserted  the  card-tables  for 
the  fascination  of  rhythmic  motion.  Statesmen,  Cabinet 
Ministers,  foreign  diplomats — of  all  ages  and  sizes — 
danced  with  an  absorption  that  was  rather  amazing,  con- 
sidering their  every -day  activities. 

A  man  who  had  been  watching  the  dancers  from  a  seat 
behind  one  of  the  pillars  seemed  particularly  interested  in 
the  military  attache  of  the  Spanish  Embassy,  Major  Don 
Julio  Zacata — who  was  chatting  behind  a  group  of  potted 
palms  with  the  Honorable  Chudleigh  Sammis,  M.  P. 
They  were  discussing  the  arrival,  that  morning,  of  a  Ger- 
man submarine  at  Baltimore — and  the  keen-faced  Amer- 
ican who  sat  behind  the  pillar  had  an  impression  that  the 
Member  of  Parliament  concurred  rather  strongly,  for  a 
loyal  Englishman,  with  the  Spaniard's  open  admiration  of 
the  exploit.  The  submarine  had  been  lucky — no  ques- 
tion as  to  that — but  as  a  feat  of  seamanship,  her  perform- 

213 


214  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ance  was  no  more  remarkable  than  the  crossing  of  the  At- 
lantic, some  months  previously,  by  the  five  American  sub- 
marines built  at  the  Fore  River  yards  for  England,  or  that 
of  the  English  submarines  which  penetrated  the  Sea  of 
Marmora  after  the  passage  through  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  thickly  mined  Dardanelles.  It  was  by  no  means 
sure,  at  that  moment,  that  the  German  submarine  would 
return  safely  to  Bremen.  The  American  was  trying  to 
puzzle  out  some  underlying  reason  for  Sammis's  affability 
to  the  Spanish  attache  when  Lady  Trevor  caught  a  glimpse 
of  his  face,  in  passing,  and  promptly  fetched  His  Lordship 
around  behind  the  pillar. 

"Raymond  Carter!  Where  in  the  world  did  you  drop 
from?  We  heard  that  you'd  left  the  American  Embassy 
in  Paris  four  months  ago,  for  a  well-earned  vacation — but 
there  was  no  word  of  you  from  any  one  in  the  States !  Did 
you  really  go  home  at  all?  "  He  was  still  holding  her  hand 
with  one  of  his  and  looking  at  her  delightedly  as  he  ex- 
tended the  other  to  His  Lordship. 

"Why  should  I?  This  thing  over  here  is  too  stupen- 
dous to  leave — and  some  of  its  most  interesting  features 
are  not  on  the  firing-line.  For  instance — your  Member  of 
Parliament,  yonder,  appears  to  have  some  pretty  good 
reason  for  cultivating  Major  Don  Julio  Zacata,  who  is 
— entre  nous — of  the  Hapsburgs.  Oh,  he's  Spanish-born, 
all  right,  and  a  duly  accredited  attach^  of  the  Spanish 
Embassy — but  I'll  bet  a  good  yellow  double  eagle  that 
his  sympathies  are  not  with  England  and  France  in  this 
row!  Not  by  a  thousand  miles!  You  could  have  him 
recalled  upon  excellent  grounds — but  of  course  you  won't. 
Because  he  also  happens  to  be  a  distant  connection  of  Al- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  215 

fonso  himself,  and  you  don't  want  to  get  that  bright 
young  man  down  on  you!" 

Lady  Nan,  glancing  round  the  big  hall,  noticed  that 
some  of  the  people  were  observing  their  meeting  with  Car- 
ter— marking  him  as  an  old  friend  of  two  celebrities  who 
were  known  in  nearly  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

"See  here,  Raymond!  Evidently  you've  been  pro- 
curing information  of  value  to  us — somewhere!  If  we 
stand  talking  here  another  five  minutes  there  may  be 
people  in  the  house  who  will  suspect  the  fact.  Better  go 
to  your  club  now — and  afterward  come  around  to  Park 
Lane." 

"H-m-m — is  there  one  of  your  high-powered  motors 
outside,  Lady  Nan?" 

"Yes.  We've  grown  so  accustomed  to  the  unexpected 
that  we  never  use  anything  else,  now — even  for  social  af- 
fairs. In  fact,  we've  disposed  of  every  car  that  isn't  ca- 
pable of  doing  ninety  miles  at  a  pinch.  Ranjeet  Singh  is 
waiting  outside — we  are  leaving  in  hah*  an  hour.  Two- 
Jive-jive  is  our  carriage  number." 

"  I  '11  spot  Ranjeet  without  calling  the  number  and  get 
into  the  car  with  my  collar  turned  up — first  telephoning 
Park  Lane  to  send  another  for  Your  Ladyship — same  car- 
riage number.  Then,  if  Trevor  will  come  out  in  a  few 
moments  and  meet  me,  two  blocks  up  the  street,  we  can 
watch  for  that  Spaniard  when  he  leaves.  Unless  I'm 
guessing  wrong  altogether,  your  Member  of  Parliament 
will  be  with  him — and  they  '11  drive  off  in  a  car,  somewhere, 
for  a  private  conference.  Now — do  we  understand  each 
other?  Good!  Ill  try  to  create  an  impression  that  our 
acquaintance  is  merely  casual! 


216  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

If  any  secret  agent  of  Germany  was  at  Station  House 
that  night — and  the  Foreign  Office  assumed  this  to  be 
highly  probable — he  undoubtedly  contented  himself 
with  a  close  observation  of  Lady  Nan,  figuring  that 
secret  agents  of  the  British  Government  were  likely  to 
be  among  the  numerous  acquaintances  with  whom  she 
talked  at  various  times.  If  Lord  Trevor's  departure  was 
noticed  at  all,  it  was  assumed  that  he  had  left  early  for  a 
game  of  cards  at  his  club  or  had  possibly  gone  to  the  Admi- 
ralty— being  one  of  the  most  popular  Admirals  in  the 
service.  Carter  may  have  been  recognized  as  having  had 
some  former  connection  with  the  American  Embassy  in 
Paris — but  he  was  one  of  those  artists  among  diplomats 
who  possess  the  ability  to  present  such  an  average  appear- 
ance as  to  be  easily  confused  with  hundreds  of  other  men 
of  the  same  complexion,  height,  build,  dress,  and  manner. 
It  was  raining  when  he  left  the  house,  so  his  stepping  into 
the  Trevor  landaulet  and  driving  off  up  the  street  at- 
tracted no  attention.  His  Lordship  came  out  with[the  col- 
lar of  his  mackintosh  turned  above  his  ears  and  his  Fedora 
hat-brim  pulled  down  until  they  made  an  effectual  dis- 
guise. When  Major  Zacata  appeared  with  the  Hon. 
Chudleigh  Sammis,  fifteen  minutes  later,  Trevor's  motor 
was  drawn  up  near  by,  and  it  glided  silently  after  their 
car,  half  a  block  in  the  rear. 

As  Carter  had  anticipated,  the  attache  had  no  inten- 
tion of  going  back  to  the  Spanish  Embassy  in  Grosvenor 
Gardens.  Instead  of  heading  west,  his  chauffeur  cut 
down  through  St.  James's  Square  and  Whitehall  to  West- 
minster Bridge,  then  south  into  Surrey,  along  Brixton 
Road,  through  Croyden.  As  the  car  was  starting  up  the 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  217 

grade  to  Nore  Hill  and  the  Woldingham  Downs,  the  bril- 
liant glare  of  an  acetylene  lamp  was  turned  full  upon  it 
from  the  side  of  the  road,  and  a  figure  in  khaki  stepped  out 
to  cover  the  chauffeur  with  a  levelled  magazine  rifle. 
When  he  stopped,  Major  Zacata  leaned  out  to  ask  what 
the  trouble  was.  The  sergeant  was  polite  but  firm. 
"You'll  have  to  account  for  yourselves,  gentlemen!" 
"Si!  Si  I  I  am  Military  Attache  of  the  Spanish  Em- 
bassy— an'  my  frien',  he  ees  Honorable  Senor  Sammis, 
the  Member  of  your  Parliament!  We  proceed  to  the 
villa  where  we  are  guest',  near  Woldingham!" 

"Er — quite  so!  I  should  have  recognized  you  at  once! 
I'm  Kaiser  Bill,  myself,  don't  you  know!  Might  as  well 
stow  all  that,  an'  turn  up  whatever  identification  you 

happen  to  have  about  you!" 

Zacata  was  furious,  but  instantly  drew  a  card  case 
from  his  pocket  as  Sammis  was  producing  his  own. 

"My  card!  You  may  also  examine  my  chauffeur's 
license  if  you  weesh!" 

The  cards  and  other  papers  being  apparently  satis- 
factory, the  sergeant  returned  them  with  a  salute. 

"These  seem  to  be  sufficient,  sir;  you  may  proceed! 
But,  if  convenient,  it  would  be  advisable  to  do  your  mo- 
toring during  the  day — any  one  not  cennected  with  the 
Army  is  quite  sure  to  be  stopped." 

Ranjeet  Singh  had  seen  what  happened  in  time  to 
throw  out  his  clutch  at  some  little  distance  back  from  the 
pickets,  but  Zacata  had  gone  scarcely  a  hundred  yards 
when  His  Lordship  leaned  out  of  the  landaulet  in  the 
glare  of  the  acetylene  lamp,  with  his  hat  off,  and  said, 
in  a  low  voice: 


318  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"On  His  Majesty's  Service,  Sergeant!    Don't  delay  us!" 

The  man  recognized  his  face  as  exceedingly  familiar; 
the  air  of  command  was  unmistakable.  He  was  saluting, 
a  little  doubtfully,  when  His  Lordship  continued,  rapidly: 

"You've  been  in  this  neighborhood  several  days?  Aye? 
Have  you  heard  of  any  villa  or  manor  house  which  has 
been  recently  leased  to  someone  in  London — either  a 
Member  of  Parliament  or  a  foreigner?" 

"Yes,  sir.  That's  why  I  allowed  that  other  car  to  pro- 
ceed. There's  an  old  house  on  the  top  of  Woldingham 
Hill,  a  mile  away  from  any  other  one — you  reach  it  by  a 
lane  from  the  turnpike,  before  it  dips  down  to  Titsey.  It 
has  the  reputation  of  being  haunted — vacant  for  several 
years,  they  say,  around  here.  But  a  gentleman  from  Lon- 
don took  it  during  the  winter  an'  spent  a  good  bit  of  tin 
putting  it  in  repair.  Comes  down  for  the  week-ends. 
Butler  and  old  housekeeper  appear  to  be  in  charge  when 
he's  away." 

Thanking  him  courteously,  Trevor  settled  back  in  his 
seat,  and  Ranjeet  took  the  hill  on  "high."  The  brief 
conversation  had  taken  but  a  minute — yet  the  other  car 
was  out  of  sight  in  the  rain  and  darkness.  On  the  higher 
ground,  Ranjeet  turned  up  his  lamps,  and  all  three  closely 
examined  the  earth  at  the  side  of  the  macadam  as  they 
ran  along.  Presently  they  passed  a  spot  where  tyre- 
marks  in  the  soft  clay  showed  where  a  car  had  turned  into 
an  opening  through  the  hedge  so  narrow  that  the  twigs 
must  have  brushed  the  mud-guards  as  it  went  through. 
Turning  off  his  lights,  Ranjeet  drew  up  at  the  side  of  the 
road,  a  little  further  along;  after  which  Lord  Trevor  and 
the  American  walked  rapidly  back  to  the  narrow  lane. 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  219 

After  proceeding  cautiously  for  a  mile,  they  came  upon 
a  manor  house  nestling  in  waist-high  gorse  on  the  crest 
of  the  Downs.  There  were  lights  in  two  windows  upon 
the  ground  floor  and  one  at  the  rear,  evidently  in  the  kit- 
chen or  butler's  pantry.  Feeling  sure  that  somebody 
would  have  been  told  to  watch  the  lane,  they  cautiously 
circled  the  place,  in  the  goise,  at  a  distance  of  five  hundred 
feet,  and  approached  it  from  the  west.  In  the  darkness 
they  stumbled  against  something  which  proved  to  be  a 
flag-pole — considerably  ovsr  a  hundred  feet  high,  judg- 
ing by  the  thickness  of  the  lower  mast. 

"Hmph!  The  beauty  of  the  flag-pole  idea,  Raymond, 
is  that  one  can  never  be  sure  it  isn't  always  used,  quite 
innocently,  for  the  Union  Jack  or  Red  Ensign — when  the 
master  of  the  house  is  in  residence — until  he  makes  a  most 
searchin'  investigation.  I  fawncy  three-quarters  of  the 
country  houses  in  the  British  Isles  have,  each,  their  flag- 
mast!  If  one  were  to  examine  all  of  them,  it  would  take 
some  doing — what  ?  Search  about,  carefully,  within  a  hun- 
dred-foot radius,  an'  see  if  you  cawn't  locate  a  well,  or  a 
partly  sunken  ice-house — something  of  the  sort!" 

In  a  few  moments  they  came  upon  the  wooden  hatch 
of  a  cistern — evidently  piped  to  collect  rain-water  from 
the  roofs  of  the  manor  house.  Removing  the  hatch  and 
flashing  a  ray  from  an  electric  torch  down  inside,  they  saw 
that  the  top  of  the  water  was  about  seven  feet  below  the 
ground-level,  and  that  what  appeared  to  t>e  a  drain — • 
three  feet  in  diameter — opened  from  the  bricks,  at  one 
side,  directly  under  the  hatch,  about  two  feet  above  the 
water.  Lowering  himself  until  he  could  throw  his  light 
into  this  drain,  Trevor  saw  a  reel  of  copper  "aerials" 


820  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

twenty  feet  back  from  the  cistern — plenty  long  enough  to 
be  hoisted  to  the  top  of  the  pole  by  the  flag-halyards — and 
he  had  barely  shut  off  his  own  light  when  he  saw  a  re- 
flection at  the  other  end  of  the  drain  three  hundred  feet 
away.  To  swing  himself  out  of  the  cistern  and  replace 
the  hatch  was  the  work  of  but  a  few  seconds. 

"Faith,  they're  comin'  through  that  drain  at  this  mo- 
ment, old  chap,  to  string  up  those  aerials  an'  begin  sending. 
We'd  best  make  a  detour  through  the  gorse  an'  see  if  we 
cawn't  get  hi  close  to  those  lighted  windows  at  the  side ! " 

The  narrow  spaces  between  the  Tudor  mullions  of  the 
windows  were  fitted  with  diamond-shaped  panes,  the 
lower  section  opening  outward  upon  hinges  and  being 
partly  overgrown  with  ivy.  This  gave  the  watche- 
excellent  opportunity  to  peer  through  the  leaves  without 
being  seen.  The  room  proved  to  be  a  spacious  library 
with  a  low,  raftered  ceiling  and  a  beautifully  carved  stone 
fireplace  at  one  side.  Sammis  and  the  Spanish  attache 
were  smoking  comfortably  in  big  leather  chairs  at  one 
side  of  a  massive  centre  table.  Near  them  a  handsome 
woman  was  half  reclining  on  a  divan,  playing  with  the 
long  ears  of  a  dachshund.  Trevor  and  the  American 
Charg6  d'Affaires  muttered  exclamations  at  the  sight  of 
her. 

"Lady  Violet  Penngwylder,  by  Jove!  Who  is  also  Con- 
desa  de  Satialuna  by  reason  of  her  inherited  Spanish 
estates!  There's  been  a  good  bit  of  talk  about  her  care- 
lessness in  regard  to  appearances,  you  know!  A  hand- 
some widow  cawn't  go  about,  openly,  with  a  foreigner — 
or  any  one  else,  for  that  matter — without  stirrin'  up  gos- 
sip! Well,  we've  ample  time  to  discuss  her  later.  Just 


LORD  TREVOR 

"  HANDING  RAYMOND  CARTER  ONE  OF  THE  RECEIVERS,  HE  PLACED  THE 
OTHER  AGAINST  HIS  OWN  EAR  .  .  .  THE  VOICES  IN  THE  ROOM  WERE 
AS  DISTINCT  AS  IF  THEY  HAD  BEEN  WITHIN  SIX  FEET  OF  THE  SPEAKERS  " 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  221 

now,  we've  to  hear  what  they're  sayin',  if  possible!  We 
cawn't  pry  open  one  of  these  windows  without  makin'  a 
noise  they'll  hear,  but  I  carry  a  couple  of  dictaphones  in  any 
car  I  happen  to  be  usin' — so  we  '11  not  do  so  badly  in  spite 
of  that.  Glass  vibrates  even  more  than  a  metal  dia- 
phragm, under  certain  conditions." 

He  took  from  his  mackintosh  pocket  a  compact  dicta- 
phone transmitter  from  which  he  unscrewed  the  pro- 
tecting rubber  mouthpiece — holding  the  diaphragm  flat 
against  one  of  the  window-panes.  Then,  handing  Carter 
one  of  the  receivers,  he  placed  the  other  against  his  own 
ear,  and  the  tones  of  the  voices  in  the  room  were  as  distinct 
as  if  they  had  been  wichin  six  feet  of  the  speakers.  Sam- 
mis  had  evidently  been  asking  for  certain  information 
which  the  Major  was  giving  him,  Lady  Violet  supple- 
menting it  with  an  occasional  remark. 

"You  ask,  my  frien',  how  many  of  ze  men  we  expec'  to 
'ave  before  we  bring  off  ze  grran'  coup?  We  'ave  now 
thirty  thousan'.  They  are  scatter*  in  many  pueblos  an* 
cities  where  nobody  notice*  them.  To-morrow,  othair 
steamer'  weel  arrive — ten  thousan'  more  men — who  weel 
scatter  as  ze  othairs.  In  a  few  days  there  weel  be  in 
Spain  forty  thousan'  men  of  German  birth — mos'  of  whom 
'ave  live'  so  long  in  Latin  country'  that  t'ey  pass  for  Span- 
ish or  Italian,  mos'  certainly.  In  our  own  organization 
— w'ich  comprise  many  of  ze  brigand',  we  'ave  twenty 
thousan'.  Seexty  thousan'  ees  not  beeg  army — ver'  true 
— but  eet  will  be  sufficient  for  ze  surprise  an'  ze  compro- 
mise. For  to  move  them,  we  'ave  more  as  t'ree  hundred 
box-cars — an'  there  ees  leetle  station,  ver'  quieet,  w'ere 
ze  seexty  thousan'  can  be  load'  in  one  day.  We  'ave 


222  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

secret  agent*  in  every  station  along  ze  line  to  cut  ze  tele- 
graph before  we  start,  an'  cooperate  with  us  in  taking  ze 
railway  buildings." 

"Suppose  the  big  strike  isn't  settled  by  the  time  you 
want  to  move  your  men?" 

"Look  you,  my  frien'!  zose  striker*  are  mostly  affiliate* 
weeth  our  organization.  Ze  strrike,  he  weel  not  be  settle* 
until  we  are  ready  to  move!  Observe!  Ze  railway,  he 
ees  all  tie'-up — everywhere — nozzing  ees  move'  in  ze  way 
of  trrain*.  Ze  line  clear — nozzing  in  ze  way  w'en  we  weesh 
to  run  express  after  express  of  ze  box-car!  Ze  people  be- 
yond ze  frontier,  they  t'ink  our  strike  ees  all  settle',  an* 
that  we  move  ze  goods-train*  w'ich  *ave  been  wait'  so 
long." 

"And  the  Condesa?    Where  does  she  come  in?" 

Lady  Violet  stretched  herself  like  a  lazy  cat,  smiling. 

"I  throw  a  little  snuff  in  the  eyes  of  His  Majesty  and 
the  leaders  in  the  Cortes.  I  was  rather  intimate  with  the 
Queen  when  she  was  Princess  Victoria  of  Battenberg,  and 
used  to  get  along  beautifully  with  His  Majesty.  They 
invite  me  to  visit  them  frequently.  Well,  I  ask  the 
King  whether  his  country  is  prepared,  in  case  it  happens  to 
become  involved  in  the  war.  He  assures  me  there  is  no 
possibility  of  such  an  eventuality — but  I  tell  him  a  few 
things  I've  heard,  and  suggest  the  advisability  of  stock- 
ing-up  on  munitions,  at  least.  Whether  he  actually  or- 
ders the  War  Department  to  increase  the  munitions  re- 
serve or  not,  he  is  bound  to  see  that  there  really  should  be 
a  large  stock  in  the  country.  So,  if  he  learns  that  a  few 
public-spirited  business  men  among  his  subjects  have 
made  large  purchases  abroad,  in  that  line,  he  is  more 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  223 

likely  to  thank  and  decorate  them  than  to  suspect  any 
ulterior  motive.  Meanwhile,  I  keep  telling  him  certain 
confidential  gossip  I've  picked  up  in  regard  to  the  inten- 
tions of  the  Entente  toward  him  in  the  near  future.  He 
doesn't  believe  it — yet — but  he  is  doing  a  good  bit  of 
thinking,  and  will  be  getting  more  suspicious  of  the  Allies 
as  the  months  pass.  If  he  happens  to  hear  that  certain 
officers  in  the  War  Department  have  been  exceeding  their 
authority,  he  will  not  be  disposed  to  investigate  too 
closely." 

" Excellent,  Condesa !  Capital!  One  can  scarcely  over- 
estimate the  value  of  such  work  inside  the  Palacio  Real!" 

The  conversation  drifted  to  less  serious  matters — and 
the  listeners,  outside,  thought  it  advisable  to  make  their 
escape  before  any  of  the  household  came  prowling  about. 
When  they  were  in  the  landaulet,  racing  back  to  London, 
Carter  expected  that  His  Lordship  wouM  at  once  order 
the  arrest  of  Sammis  and  the  recall  of  Zacata. 

"No;  we  don't  want  to  stir  up  their  Embassy  and  strain 
diplomatic  relations  between  the  two  countries.  You 
may  be  quite  sure  that  house  was  never  leased  in  Zacata's 
name,  or  Sammis's,  either — not  with  the  chance  of  that 
wireless  outfit  bein'  discovered  on  the  place!  We'll  wait 
until  those  three  have  gone  back  to  London,  and  then 
seize  the  place  with  everyone  who  happens  to  be  in  it  at 
the  time.  For  six  months  we've  known  Sammis  to  be  a 
WUhelmstrasse  spy,  an*  have  been  watchin*  him,  d'ye 
see — which  has  enabled  us  to  make  several  rather  impor- 
tant arrests.  I  fancy  he's  no  suspicion  of  the  extent  to 
which  he  has  been  constantly  under  espionage.  We'll 
permit  him  an'  Zacata  an'  the  Condesa  to  imagine  thei 


224  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

connection  with  this  house,  down  here,  hasn't  been  traced 
at  all — an*  that  we've  taken  it  over  because  we  somehow 
located  the  wireless  messages  from  it.  I'm  beginnin'  to 
have  some  inkling  as  to  what  may  be  doin'  in  Spain — but 
you  can  probably  fill  in  a  few  gaps!  What  did  you  dis- 
cover there?" 

"You're  familiar,  of  course,  with  the  various  services  of 
the  big  Spanish  steamship  line — the  Compania  Trasat- 
lantica — and  know  there  are  smaller  ones  more  or  less 
affiliated  with  it?  Well,  for  the  last  three  months  irregu- 
lar chartered  steamers,  running  in  some  of  those  lines, 
have  been  fetching  men  from  South  and  Central  America 
to  work  newly  developed  mines  and  other  industries  in 
various  parts  of  Spain.  They  talk  Spanish  as  if  it  were 
their  native  tongue — even  some  of  the  local  dialects — but 
I'd  be  willing  to  bet  that  every  one  of  them  is  either 
Austrian  or  German  formerly  engaged  in  developing  the 
foreign  trade  of  those  countries.  Probably  few,  if  any, 
not  in  the  secret,  have  noticed  that  all  of  them  were  landed 
at  Barcelona.  Some  are  undoubtedly  still  in  that  city — 
but  the  majority  left  almost  immediately  on  trains  going 
north,  into  the  interior.  One  of  our  Secret  Service  men 
happened  to  be  in  Barcelona  on  another  matter,  and  was 
just  curious  enough  to  keep  tally  on  the  rather  unusual 
immigration  proposition.  He  told  me  that,  in  two  months, 
over  thirty  thousand  men  had  come  to  Barcelona  by  stea- 
mer. Not  immigrant  families,  mind  you,  but  able-bodied 
men,  none  over  forty-five!  He  also  put  me  on  to  another 
thing  which'll  bear  examination.  The  two  largest  arm 
and  ammunition  houses  in  Barcelona,  with  branches  in 
Toledo,  Madrid,  and  Seville,  have  been  importing  ship- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  225 

load  after  shipload  from  the  United  States,  Chile,  and 
Argentina — 

"My  word!  I  rather  imagine  that's  where  we  over- 
looked a  bet!  One  doesn't  think  of  munition  factories 
in  the  South  American  States,  but  there  should  be  more 
of  'em  in  Chile  than  any  place  in  the  world,  because  of 
the  immense  nitrate  deposits  there.  An'  there's  metal 
enough  in  Argentina  to  supply  a  hundred  diff'rent  works. 
Er,  what  have  those  comp'nies  done  with  the  stuff  they've 
imported?" 

"Stored  part  of  the  shipments  in  their  own  warehouses, 
shipped  the  bulk  of  them  to  some  place  in  the  north  of 
Spain.  Of  course,  nothing  has  been  transported  inland 
since  the  railway  strike  began,  but  there  are  spur-tracks 
to  each  of  the  warehouses;  train  after  train  could  be 
loaded  and  sent  away  at  an  hour's  notice." 

"Anything  else  you  picked  up  down  there?" 

"Yes;  but  I  can't  see  where  it  has  anything  to  do  with 
this  proposition,  unless — 

"Aye— unless?     What?" 

"Unless  the  Quartermaster  General  of  the  Spanish 
Army,  and  a  number  of  his  subordinates,  happen  to  be  in 
the  conspiracy!" 

"Know  anything  about  him?  Is  he  connected  with 
one  of  the  Austro-Spanish  families?" 

"By  Jove!  I  didn't  think  of  that!  Yes!  Austrian 
connections  straight  back — even  his  mother  was  an  Aus- 
trian countess !  And  of  course,  he  could  easily  recommend 
for  promotion  other  Austro-Spaniards,  under  him,  in  his 
department!" 

"But— what's  the  point?    What  has  he  done?" 


226  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"He  would  naturally  have  the  placing  of  contracts  for 
new  army  uniforms,  wouldn't  he?  Of  course!  And  if 
he  could  get  them  supplied  from  the  United  States  more 
reasonably  than  they  could  be  made  hi  Spain,  it  would  be  a 
nice  little  rake-off  for  him,  wouldn't  it?  With  the  amount 
of  graft  all  through  the  Spanish  Government,  nobody 
would  pay  any  attention  to  the  importation  of  more  uni- 
forms than  the  army  could  possibly  need  for  the  next 
year — eh?  Well,  the  bald  fact  is  that  over  seventy  thou- 
sand uniforms,  all  grades,  and  all  branches  of  the  service, 
have  been  imported  from  the  United  States  and  stored  at 
the  regular  Government  depots  of  the  Q.  M.  D." 

"Are  you  sure  that  none  of  them  has  been  shipped  to 
some  place  hi  the  north  of  Spain?" 

"That  never  occurred  to  me!  But  there'd  be  nothing 
to  prevent  the  Q.  M.  D.  cars  being  shunted  at  some 
junction  outside  of  Barcelona  and  sent  north.  I  don't 
just  see — 

"What  that  crowd  want  of  Spanish  uniforms?  Hmph! 
I  fancy  I  do  !  I  say,  Raymond!  This  affair  is  a  good 
bit  too  serious  to  overlook!  If  it  were  left  to  Alfonso  an* 
the  cooler-headed  leaders  in  the  Cortes,  there'd  be  not 
the  slightest  danger  in  the  world  of  their  bein'  dragged  into 
this  war!  They  know  that  Spain  is  exposed  to  hostile 
attack  on  every  side,  an*  that  the  Entente  navies  could 
bottle  them  up — tight — inside  of  three  days.  Spain  has 
everything  to  lose  an'  nothin*  in  the  world  to  gain  by 
meddlin'  in  this " 

"Unless " 

"What?" 

"Unless  the  propagandists  have  lied  so  convincingly, 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  227 

all  through  Spain,  that  the  people  really  believe  the  Cen- 
tral Powers  are  bound  to  win  the  war  and  impose  their 
peace  terms  upon  all  Europe!  In  that  case,  a  little  ma- 
terial assistance  at  the  psychological  moment  would  be 
handsomely  rewarded  in  the  final  settlement — or  rather, 
the  Spaniards  would  be  made  to  believe  that  it  would. 
Take  the  case  of  Bulgaria.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  treacherous  and  short-sighted  than  Ferdinand's 
throwing  in  with  the  Germans  when  he  did.  He  hasn't 
as  yet  a  realization  of  what  is  coming  to  him  in  the  wind- 
up — thinks  it  was  a  coup  d'tiat  which  is  to  make  him 
one  of  the  powers  of  Europe.  But  in  a  few  months  he'll 
begin  to  think  differently — his  people  are  beginning  to 
wake  up,  even  now.  On  the  present  status,  however,  he 
constitutes  a  pretty  good  argum'nt  for  the  propagandists  in 
Spam.  They've  watched  the  opening-up  of  the  Oriental 
Railway  to  Stamboul — the  joining  of  the  Turkish,  Bul- 
garian, and  German  armies.  It  looks  as  if  Bulgaria  would 
get  a  very  satisfactory  slice  of  the  pie,  and  become  more 
powerful.  If  Spain  could  render  a  similar  service  and  get 
some  of  the  pie  for  herself — probably  the  whole  of  Portu- 
gal, at  least — the  decision  to  help  Austria  and  Germany 
would  be  very  popular  throughout  the  peninsula!" 

"With  a  good  many,  aye!  But  I  fancy  a  majority  of 
the  people  love  England  an'  France  much  better  than 
they  do  the  Teutons.  First  place,  they're  a  Latin  race. 
When  Charles  the  First — hi  his  minority — made  that  fa- 
mous pilgrimage  with  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  incog- 
nito, to  visit  the  Infanta  and  the  Spanish  Court,  H  appealed 
to  the  streak  of  romance  in  every  Spaniard's  heart.  It's 
ne  of  the  great  traditions  in  Spain  to  this  day.  And 


228  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

King  Edward,  when  he  also  was  El  Principe  de  Gales,  did 
a  good  deal  to  perpetuate  it.  He  was  immensely  popu- 
lar down  there.  Then  again,  Queen  Victoria  Eugenie  has 
made  herself  loved  by  the  whole  nation;  and  she's  an 
English  princess.  Alfonso  is  still  in  love  with  her;  he 
himself  is  one  of  the  best-liked  rulers  the  country  ever 
had.  He  is  of  Austrian  blood,  but  he  has  dev'lish  little 
use  for  Germany  or  Hohenzollern  ideas.  There's  one  point 
upon  which  you  may  wager  a  good  bit:  whatever  Alfonso 
does,  he'll  have  the  bulk  of  his  people  behind  him.  Ray- 
mond, I'm  goin'  around  to  Cap  Cerbere  on  the  Ranee, 
with  my  biggest  cruisin*  biplane  aboard!  I'll  have  no 
difficulty  in  gettin'  permission  from  the  French  War 
Office  to  do  all  the  scoutin'  I  please  along  the  Pyrenees; 
in  fact,  they  all  recognize  the  value  of  my  services,  an' 
give  me  carte  blanche.  If  you  care  to  come  along,  you'll 
get  a  bit  of  excitement,  I  fancy;  but  don't  blink  the  pos- 
sibility that  we  may  neither  of  us  come  back!" 

There  was  a  conference  in  Park  Lane,  that  night,  be- 
tween Lord  Trevor,  the  Foreign  Secretary  and  Sir  Fran- 
cis Lammerford,  at  which  the  facts  picked  up  at  the  manor 
on  Woldingham  Downs  were  thoroughly  discussed,  and 
arrangements  made  to  keep  the  Spanish  Embassy  attaches 
under  close  surveillance.  Then  His  Lordship  and  Ray- 
mond Carter  motored  down  to  Southampton,  where  H. 
M.  Scout  Cruiser,  S-49 — formerly  the  deep-sea  yacht 
Ranee  Sylvia — lay  waiting  for  them  with  steam  up.  Up- 
on the  second  morning  following,  she  passed  Gibraltar, 
and  by  midnight  was  off  the  boundary  between  France 
and  Spain.  Trevor  had  been  somewhat  undecided  as  tn 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  229 

where  he  might  expect  to  find  concrete  evidence  of  the 
plot,  but  he  now  got  out  a  set  of  the  Ministers  de  la  Guerre 
topographic  maps  and  sat  down  with  Carter  in  his  private 
saloon,  aft,  to  discuss  the  question. 

"The  'special  detail'  from  the  War  Departm'nt  which 
was  handed  to  me  by  the  captain  of  that  thirty- 
knot  French  destroyer,  this  morning,  permits  me  to  do 
practically  whatever  I  please  anywhere  in  French  terri- 
tory and  authorizes  me  to  demand  assistance,  if  I  need  it, 
from  local  forces.  But  I  fancy  they've  no  idea  as  to  what 
we're  up  to.  Now,  I'm  almost  positive  that  we'll  find 
what  we're  lookin'  for  at  this  end  of  the  Pyrenees  rather 
than  the  other " 

"Why  so?  What's  your  argument?" 

"An  expedition  by  way  of  San  Sebastian  would  have 
merely  Bordeaux  for  its  objective.  It  is  doubtful  if  fifty 
or  sixty  thousand  men  could  take  and  hold  the  city  even 
with  the  advantage  of  a  partial  surprise — but  they  simply 
couldn't  get  there  without  some  warning  of  their  ap- 
proach, and  if  they  did,  they'd  merely  stop  the  commerce 
entering  France  through  that  port,  which  would  be  im- 
mediately diverted  elsewhere.  But  on  this  end,  the  moun- 
tain boundary  comes  right  out  into  the  Mediterranean, 
with  low  land  to  the  north  and  south  of  it.  In  goin* 
around  Cap  Cerbere,  the  railway  line  actually  has  to  tun- 
nel under  promontories  in  three  places,  and  on  the  Span- 
ish side  there's  nothin'  but  the  little  pueblo  of  San  Mig- 
uel de  Culera  within  eight  or  ten  miles  of  the  border.  The 
place  has  no  communication  except  by  mule-trails,  aside 
from  the  railway.  Back  of  it  are  almost  inaccessible 
mountain  valleys  with  altitudes  of  fifteen  hundred  to 


230  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

twenty-five  hundred  feet.  Zacata  said  he  had  German 
spies  in  all  the  French  railway  stations  for  some 
distance  north  of  the  border — evidently  enough  of 
them  to  cut  telegraph  wires  and  take  possession 
of  the  railway  yards  until  a  battalion  could  be  dropped 
from  the  trains  at  each  place.  So  it  won't  do  for  the  Ranee 
to  be  seen  at  any  of  the  little  ports  along  the  shore — 

"Hold  on  a  second  I  You  think  this  expedition  will 
be  aimed  at  Marseilles — is  that  it?" 

"Not  Marseilles  itself,  because  assistance  could  be  ob- 
tained too  quickly  from  the  naval  depot  at  Toulon.  But 
if  they  could  hold  Narbonne,  Nfmes,  and  Tarascon,  they 
would  cut  all  communication  between  Marseilles  and  the 
rest  of  France,  tap  the  great  artery  which  supplies  troops, 
munitions,  provisions  from  the  Mediterranean,  the  Orient, 
and  South  America.  Of  course,  the  traffic  could  be 
switched  to  Genoa  and  go  up  through  Mont  Cenis. 
Equally,  of  course,  no  expedition  of  this  size  could  hold  those 
three  connecting  points  for  more  than  a  few  days  or  weeks 
at  the  outside — unless  reinforced  by  the  Spanish  Army. 
But  if  the  Cortes  should  suddenly  vote  to  do  that — and 
rush  up  troops  in  support — it  would  create  a  diversion 
that  might  easily  change  the  whole  outcome  of  the  west- 
ern campaign  this  year." 

"Where  can  you  take  the  Ranee  in  without  being  seen 
by  some  of  those  German  spies?" 

"One  of  the  little  indentations  directly  south  of  Cap 
I'Abeille.  The  railway  goes  under  the  mountain,  you  see, 
in  a  long  tunnel,  and  there  isn't  even  a  fishing  village 
within  several  miles  of  that  cove.  Looks  to  me  as  if  it 
would  be  an  ideal  spot  to  start  from  in  the  'plane." 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  231 

"H-m-m — your  reasoning  is  pretty  convincing;  per- 
haps you're  on  the  right  track.  You  figure,  of  course, 
that  a  German  expedition  must  be  camped  in  some  hidden 
valley  or  ravine  along  the  southern  slope  of  the  Pyrenees 
— but  wouldn't  such  a  camp  be  liable  to  discovery  if  it 
were  located  too  near  the  Mediterranean,  or  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  at  either  end?" 

"More  so  than  if  it  were  hi  the  middle  of  the  high  Pyre- 
nees, of  course,  but  they  have  no  choice  in  the  matter. 
There  are  but  two  railways  from  Spam  into  Europe:  San 
Sebastian-Biarritz,  on  the  west;  Figueras-Perpignan,  on 
the  east.  Between  them,  along  the  whole  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula,  there  are 
but  four  roads  crossing  the  high  passes  of  the  Pyrenees, 
and  they  are  out  of  the  question  for  infantry  or  field 
artillery.  Charlemagne  crossed  merely  the  low  foot-hills 
at  the  west  end,  only  thirty  -three  miles  from  the  Bay  of 
Biscay;  the  famous  pass  of  Roncesvalles,  where  Roland 
and  his  rear-guard  held  back  the  Moors,  is  but  thirty- 
five  hundred  feet  above  sea-level.  Hannibal  crossed  with- 
in twelve  miles  of  the  Mediterranean,  at  the  east  end- 
where  the  summit  of  the  pass  was  less  than  a  thousand 
feet  above  sea  level,  though  the  peaks  on  either  side  were 
over  three  thousand.  But  this  German  expedition — to 
get  moving  as  quickly  as  it  must  hi  order  to  have  any 
chance  whatever — can't  be  located  more  than  a  couple  of 
hours'  march  from  an  entraining  platform  on  the  railway. 
They  miglii  use  Hannibal's  pass  and  come  down  upon  the 
little  single-track  French  railway  at  le  Boulou,  but  it 
would  be  impossible  for  them  to  collect  enough  box-cars 
there  without  giving  the  whole  affair  away.  At  San 


232  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Miguel  de  Culera  they  can  assemble  all  the  cars  they  please 
— during  this  strike,  while  no  trains  are  running — with- 
out its  appearing  to  be  anything  more  than  congestion 
caused  by  the  strike  itself. " 

Two  hours  later  H.  B.  M.  S-49  anchored  in  the  se- 
cluded cove  which  had  been  picked  out  by  His  Lordship  on 
the  chart,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  the  big  cruising  bi- 
plane soared  up  from  a  runway  that  had  been  rigged  be- 
tween the  mainmast  and  the  stern.  Following  the  little 
river  and  valley  to  the  west  of  Cap  1'Abeille,  Trevor  kept 
at  sufficient  altitude  to  see  the  stars  over  the  crests  of  the 
mountains,  rising  to  nine  hundred  meters  and  crossing  the 
Pic  du  Col  del  Touro  less  than  a  hundred  feet  above  its 
summit,  but  a  good  twenty-seven  hundred  feet  above 
sea-level.  Swinging  E.S.E.  along  the  crest — while  Car- 
ter kept  his  prism-binoculars  upon  the  black  mass  of  the 
valleys  and  ravines  below — he  flew  toward  the  Mediter- 
ranean. In  less  than  two  minutes,  however,  an  exclama- 
tion from  Carter  made  him  swing  the  'plane  around  in  a 
circle. 

"By  Jove,  old  chap!  There  is  a  camp  down  there, 
as  sure  as  fate!  The  fires  have  burned  low — must 
have  finished  their  dinner  an  hour  ago — but  I  can  make 
out  the  glow  of  the  embers  distinctly!  The  whole  out- 
fit is  bunched  within  the  space  of  a  mile,  up  and  down  the 
ravine,  and  a  third  of  a  mile  across,  I  should  say!  From 
the  blackness,  down  there,  I  think  the  ridges  are  pre- 
cipitous on  each  side  of  them — and  the  ravine  twists  like 
a  letter  S  at  the  foot,  so  that  nobody  can  see  up  into  it 
from  below!" 

"Can  you  get  any  idea  as  to  the  number  of  fires?" 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  233 

"Keep  circling,  and  I'll  try.  Five — ten — fifteen — • 
about  thirty  fires  across  the  width  of  the  ravine — anJ  at 
least  three  times  that  many  up  and  down." 

"Say,  roughly,  three  thousand  little  fires.  If  you  fig- 
ured only  ten  men  to  each  fire,  that  would  give  you  thirty 
thousand,  but  they  are  likely  to  average  nearer  twenty. 
The  sun  only  gets  into  that  ravine  for  a  couple  of  hours 
each  day;  undoubtedly  it's  very  cool  at  night.  I'd  say 
there  must  be  forty  or  fifty  thousand  men  there,  at  least — • 
possibly  sixty  thousand.  Look  here,  Raymond!  I've 
got  to  know  something  more  definite  about  that  crowd! 
There  are  features  concernin'  that  camp  which  appear 
quite  impossible,  don't  you  know.  Can  you  make  out 
anything  which  looks  like  a  small  patch  of  clear  level 
ground?" 

"Not  here!  Run  down  toward  the  coast  a  bit!"  (la 
five  minutes  Carter  made  out  something  which  looked 
like  a  cleared  space  through  his  glass.)  "Over  to  the 
right!  Easy!  Circle  around  here,  a  little  lower!  That 
looks  like  bare  ground — fairly  level — at  the  mouth  of  a 
little  valley!  Drop  a  bit  lower!  Go  down  another  hun- 
dred feet!  Turn  to  the  left,  and  come  down  in  a  straight 
run — against  the  wind!" 

The  ground  was  covered  with  small  stones — inter- 
spersed with  patches  of  ragged  turf — but  the  stout  rubber 
wheels  sprang  and  bumped  over  it  until  the  big  'plane 
came  to  a  standstill.  Hauling  it  in  behind  some  ever- 
green trees  at  one  side  of  the  space,  Trevor  looked  at  the 
compass  on  his  machine  and  started  climbing  the  low  ridge 
to  the  north.  After  an  hour's  tramping  they  came  down 
into  a  ravine  along  the  bottom  of  which  ran — to  their 


234  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

great  surprise — a  narrow  but  fairly  smooth  macadam 
road,  with  a  carefully  surveyed  gradient.  As  they  stood 
looking  at  the  faint  streak  which  it  made  in  the  blackness 
of  the  ravine,  they  heard  the  exhaust  of  two  motor-trucks 
approaching.  In  half  a  minute  they  rolled  by,  the  lamps 
from  the  rear  one  showing  up  with  startling  distinctness 
the  Spanish  service  uniforms  of  the  troopers  driving  the 
first. 

"My  word!  This  is  where  all  those  American-made 
uniforms  went  to!  Clever — deuced  clever,  don't  you 
know!  Faith,  I'm  beginning  to  see  the  whole  thing  now, 
Raymond!  An'  the  worst  of  it  is,  there's  far  too  good  a 
chance  of  its  succeedin'  unless  we  can  do  something  within 
the  next  two  or  three  days!" 

"You  mean — they'll  actually  try  to  invade  Prance  in 
those  uniforms!" 

"Precisely!  The  whole  affair  is  planned  with  a  dev'lish 
lookin*  out  for  details — no  question  as  to  that!  What 
seemed  impossible  to  me,  when  we  discovered  that  big 
camp,  was  the  feeding  sixty  thousand  men  without  the 
whole  proposition  bein'  discovered !  I  knew  that,  up  to  a 
few  months  ago,  there  was  nothin'  leadin'  from  San  Miguel 
into  the  mountains  but  the  roughest  kind  of  donkey- trails. 
But  the  first  lot  of  men  they  sent  here  undoubtedly  built 
that  macadam  road  through  trees  an'  blind  valleys  where 
nobody  would  be  likely  to  stumble  upon  it  but  mountain- 
eers— an'  they're  prob'ly  holdin*  every  one  of  'em  that 
conies  along,  d'ye  see.  Then  that  foxy  Quartermaster 
General  states  in  his  report  to  His  Majesty  an'  the  Cortes 
that  he  has  established  a  camp  in  this  vicinity  for  summer 
manoeuvres,  accommodatin'  three  or  four  regiments  at  a 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  235 

time.  The  uniforms  make  everything  look  regular  to 
the  people  of  San  Miguel  an'  other  towns  in  this  locality. 
His  commissary  sends  along  a  daily  quota  of  food  for  the 
camp  in  milit'ry  trains  to  San  Miguel — run  by  the  soldiers 
themselves,  of  course — an'  from  there  to  the  camp  by 
motor- trucks.  In  a  country  even  more  rotten  with  graft 
than  the  United  States,  who  is  goin'  to  ask  any  questions — 
make  any  investigation — as  to  whether  he's  feedin'  tea 
thousand  or  fifty  thousand  men?  German  agents  hi 
America  are  shippin'  the  provisions  an'  munitions  through 
Barcelona,  of  course.  No  food  requisitions  to  arouse 
suspicion!  The  people  along  the  line  see  the  provision- 
trains  go  by — but  they  don't  count  the  cars  or  know  what's 
inside  of  'em.  Supposing  there  is  a  summer  camp  of 
the  regular  Spanish  Army  in  the  mountains,  who  is  there 
at  San  Miguel  to  notice  what  a  frightful  lot  of  canned 
stuff  an'  other  provisions  is  bein'  transported  in  those 
motor-trucks? 

"Then  comes  the  crownin'  use  of  the  Spanish  uniforms! 
Fifty  thousand  Spanish  troops  run  up  into  France  con- 
cealed in  box-cars — train  after  train  of  'em — an'  seize  the 
railway  junctions — killing  a  lot  of  soldiers  an*  others  who 
resist!  How  is  Spain  goin'  to  disavow  such  an  act?  An 
keep  out  of  the  war,  after  that?  The  Trojan  wooden 
horse  all  over  again!  It'll  be  another  case  of  the  Goeben 
an'  Breslau  I  Turkey  had  no  more  idea  of  bein'  drawn 
into  this  war  than  Spain  has  at  this  moment!  Gad!  If 
it  were  only  possible  to  discover  then*  magazine,  up  here — 
an'  they  fancy  themselves  too  secure  to  put  a  guard  about 
it?  My  word,  Raymond!  I  mustn't  drag  you  into  this 
— but  I  mean  to  have  a  go  at  it  if  it's  the  lawst  thing  I  do ! " 


236  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

With  a  forcible  remark  from  Carter  that  he  wasn't  there 
as  a  tourist,  they  followed  the  motor-road — hiding  in  the 
bushes  when  any  one  approached — until  they  reached  the 
hidden  ravine.  Cautiously  scouting  around  it,  they  came 
down  in  the  rear  of  a  portable  steel  warehouse  that  proved 
to  be  the  Quartermaster's  supply-depot.  The  sergeant 
in  charge  was  just  locking  up  for  the  night  when  Trevor 
stepped  in — saying  that  he  had  a  requisition  from  the  Gen- 
eral in  command  of  the  camp.  Suspecting  nothing,  the 
sergeant  walked  back  to  the  rear  of  the  big  shack,  where  an 
acetylene  lamp  stood  on  his  desk — as  Carter  shut  and 
locked  the  door  behind  him.  Before  the  fellow  could  make 
a  noise  His  Lordship  felled  him  with  a  single  blow — then 
bound  and  gagged  him.  Taking  up  the  lantern,  they  noise- 
lessly examined  the  stock  on  the  shelves — systematically 
arranged  in  various  sizes  and  ranks — selecting  the  uni- 
forms of  a  colonel  and  major  of  engineers.  Then,  making 
a  bundle  of  their  own  clothes,  they  hid  it  among  the  low 
cedars  at  the  back  of  the  warehouse  and  started  walking 
quite  openly  through  the  camp,  having  overheara  the  pass- 
word given  by  one  of  the  officers  in  charge  of  a  truck  as  he 
passed  the  outer  sentry. 

In  one  of  the  tents  four  subalterns  were  playing  pinochle 
by  the  light  of  a  single  lantern — all  getting  upon  their 
feet  and  saluting  as  the  supposed  staff  officers  entered. 
Trevor  addressed  them  gruffly,  in  German — but  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye  which  softened  the  tone  to  some  extent. 

"Soh,  Hauptman!  You  burn  the  light  after  taps — jal 
Well- — for  the  moment,  we  are  not  so  strict — no!  This 
being  cooped  up,  here,  is  tiresome  business !  In  a  few  days, 
now,  it  will  be  different — ja.1  You  will  allow  me  to  in- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  237 

spect  your  revolver,  please ! "  (The  weapon  was  promptly 
handed  to  him — butt  first — and  proved  to  be  loaded, 
in  perfect  condition.)  "Excellent,  Hauptman!  And  the 
men  in  your  company — you  have  inspected  their  rifles 
and  bandoliers,  to-day?"  (It  was  a  chance  shot — but 
Trevor  had  amazing  luck  in  getting  the  information  he 
wished  by  just  such  means.) 

"  Ja,  mein  Oberst  !  There  are,  of  course,  no  cartridges 
— as  you  are  aware,  mein  Herr;  but  they  have  been  drilled 
in  receiving  and  stowing  them  quickly,  at  the  maga- 
zine. " 

"Ja  !  The  order  was  given  to  avoid  the  possibility  of 
accidental  discharge  which  might  attract  attention  over 
the  passes.  You  will  come  outside,  and  estimate  for  me 
how  quickly  your  company  can  reach  the  magazine  from 
their  tents,  in  the  event  that  orders  come  unexpectedly!" 

"  Ja,  mein  Oberst — will  you  permit  that  I  pace  the  dis- 
tance at  the  regulation  step  and  take  the  time,  by  my 
watch?" 

"  Do  so !     We  will  accompany  you ! " 

This  was  almost  unbelievable  luck — and  yet — the 
pseudo  Colonel's  questions  had  been  quite  what  he  might 
have  been  expected  to  ask. 

The  steel  munition  sheds  were  up  a  little  side  ravine 
that  branched  off  from  the  main  camp  about  half  way,  and 
opened  out  like  an  inverted  F.  From  the  piles  of  shells 
and  cases  of  small-arm  cartridges  under  the  sheds  Trevor 
estimated  that  all  of  the  munitions  imported  from  North 
and  South  America  had  been  transported  to  the  camp, 
ready  for  the  departure  of  the  expedition.  When  they 
had  accompanied  the  captain  back  to  his  tent,  they  ro 


238  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

turned — and  walked  up  to  the  magazine  as  if  they  had 
business  there.  A  single  sentry  was  pacing  back  and  forth 
in  front  of  the  nearest  shed.  Upon  being  asked  where  the 
munitions  for  the  Engineer's  battalion  were  stored,  he 
pointed  out  a  shed  in  the  middle  of  the  group,  and  saluted 
as  they  walked  back  to  it  by  the  occasional  flash  of  an  elec- 
tric torch. 

Under  the  Engineers'  shed  Trevor  found  what  he  was 
looking  for — a  lot  of  dynamite  sticks,  packed  in  sawdust, 
and  coife  of  fuse.  Making  sure  that  intervening  piles  of 
shells  concealed  them  from  the  sentry,  they  attached  a 
length  of  fuse  to  a  heavy  stone  and  suspended  it  from  one 
of  the  roof-beams.  Tying  on  another  length,  two  feet 
above  the  stone,  they  led  it  away  outside  of  the  shed,  esti- 
mating that  it  would  burn  about  fifteen  minutes  before  it 
reached  the  knot  and  let  the  stone  drop.  Then  they 
placed  a  dozen  sticks  of  dynamite  directly  under  the  stone 
— and  went  back  through  the  camp.  Making  their  way 
among  the  cedars  where  they  had  left  their  clothes,  they 
climbed  the  steep  ridge,  and  were  nearly  at  the  top  of  it 
when  a  dull  rumbling  of  the  ground  was  succeeded  by  a 
roar  and  concussion  which  dislodged  showers  of  loose 
rock  from  the  precipitous  sides  of  the  main  ravine  and 
swept  it  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

They  were  thrown  to  the  ground  by  the  force  of  the  ex- 
plosion, but  received  nothing  worse  than  superficial  bruises. 
Below,  in  the  ravine,  there  followed  a  few  moments  of 
deathly  silence — then  a  confused  murmur,  punctuated 
with  shrieks  of  mangled  and  dying  men.  Little  points  of 
light  appeared,  here  and  there,  as  officers  ran  about  the 
camp  with  their  lanterns  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  the 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  239 

disaster.  The  shouts  of  a  commanding  officer  came  dis- 
tinctly up  to  them  as  he  gave  rapid  orders  to  throw  out 
pickets  in  every  direction  and  arrest  everyone  leaving  or 
approaching  the  ravine. 

"Faith,  Raymond — if  we're  caught,  it's  all  over  with  us! 
We'd  best  get  away  from  here  on  the  jump — an'  without 
makin'  any  noise,  at  that!" 

They  had  marked  the  place  wnere  they  first  came  upon 
the  macadam  road  by  a  large  boulder,  but  it  was  now  out 
of  the  question  to  go  down  in  that  direction  and  look  for  it; 
so  they  were  forced  to  get  their  bearings  as  best  they  could, 
and  naturally  lost  them.  At  daybreak  they  knew  they 
must  be  within  a  few  miles  of  the  cleared  spot  in  which  they 
had  left  the  big  'plane — but  thoroughly  appreciated  the 
risk  of  moving  in  any  direction.  Toward  noon  they 
cautiously  made  their  way  up  a  high  ridge  and  found  them- 
selves looking  down  upon  the  powder-blasted  sides  of  the 
ravine  in  which  the  camp  was  located.  As  nearly  as  they 
could  judge,  the  explosion  must  have  swept  the  upper  two- 
thirds  of  it — killing  or  disabling  more  than  half  the  men  in 
the  tents — and,  by  studying  the  contours  of  the  lower  hills, 
they  could  see  where  the  course  of  the  macadam  road  must 
be. 

Estimating  the  point  where  they  came  upon  it  to  be 
about  a  mile  below  the  camp,  they  could  see,  approxi- 
mately, where  they  might  expect  to  find  the  'plane.  For 
another  three  hours  they  cautiously  scouted  over  the 
lower  ridges — gradually  approaching  their  destination. 
Once  they  had  a  narrow  escape — when  they  came  upon  two 
pickets  concealed  behind  some  boulders.  But  Trevor 
questioned  them  so  vigorously  in  German  as  to  whether 


240  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

they  had  seen  any  strangers  in  the  vicinity,  or  any  foot- 
prints, that  they  had  no  suspicion  whatever.  Just  at 
nightfall  the  two  aviators  found  the  cleared  spot  and  their 
'plane — but  Trevor  discovered  that,  in  coming  down  upon 
the  rough  ground,  two  of  his  controlling-wires  had  been 
snapped  in  places  very  difficult  to  get  at  without  a  light. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  tackle  the  job  as  best  he 
could,  and  do  it  carefully  regardless  of  the  time  it  took. 
Twice  he  had  to  throw  a  ray  from  his  electric  torch  upon 
the  frame,  at  the  risk  of  being  seen  by  the  German  pickets. 
At  ten  o'clock  they  heard  voices  on  the  ridge  above  them. 
Half  a  dozen  men  appeared  to  be  cautiously  descending  to 
where  they  were  at  work.  Carter  listened  for  a  moment 
— then  calmly  asked : 

"How  much  longer,  old  chap?" 

"Three  minutes— if  everything  else  is  in  working  order! 
Help  me  drag  the  machine  out  from  these  trees,  so  that  it's 
beading  across  the  open  ground!  I  don't  know  what 
we're  going  to  strike,  out  there,  but  we  must  take  a  chance 
on  that!  Now,  then !  Get  up  in  your  seat  an'  be  ready  to 
swing  those  propeller- blades  around  when  I  jump  for 
mine!" 

"If  there  aren't  more  than  half  a  dozen,  we  can  prob- 
ably drop  them  before  they  see  us!" 

"Aye,  but  their  shots  might  easily  put  the  'plane  out  of 
business,  and  then  we'd  be  at  the  mercy  of  any  detail  that 
came  runnin'  down  to  their  assistance !  There  i  If  nothin* 
else  gives  way,  I  fancy  we  can  make  it,  now!  Ready? 
Let  her  go!" 

Trevor's  wonderful  muffler  silenced  the  exhaust  from 
the  two  big  motors,  but  the  bumping  over  the  stones  made 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  241 

some  unavoidable  noise.  There  was  a  rush  through  the 
cedars,  down  the  sides  of  the  ridge,  and  a  dozen  crackling 
shots  as  the  biplane  lifted  into  the  air.  The  bullets  came 
near  enough  to  whistle  unpleasantly,  but  fortunately 
touched  nothing.  Inside  of  an  hour  the  machine  floated 
gently  down  until  its  pontoons  rested  on  the  water  along- 
side H.  B.  M.  S-49  in  the  cove  at  Cap  1'Abeille.  As  soon. 
as  the  biplane  was  hoisted  aboard  the  anchor  was  raised 
and  the  cruiser  slipped  out  to  sea  in  the  darkness,  run- 
ning south  at  full  speed. 

At  ten  in  the  morning  she  lay-to — outside  the  three- 
mile  limit — off  the  harbor  of  Alicante,  and  His  Lordship 
went  ashore  in  a  fast  power-launch.  To  the  customs  and 
military  authorities  he  showed  credentials  as  Special  En- 
voy to  His  Majesty  King  Alfonso — being  promptly  sent 
up  to  Madrid  in  a  motor  capable  of  doing  eighty  miles  an 
hour — the  railway  service  being  unreliable  on  account  of 
the  strike. 

At  Biarritz,  some  years  before,  Lord  Trevor  had  ren- 
dered a  service  to  Alfonso  which  that  bright  and  grateful 
young  monarch  never  expected  to  forget,  and  Lady  Nan 
held  a  place  among  Queen  Victoria's  most  intimate  friends. 
So,  as  soon  as  His  Lordship  arrived  at  the  capital,  a  royal 
equerry  called  upon  him  with  the  request  that  he  present 
himself  at  the  Palacio  Real  without  the  formality  of  secur- 
ing an  interview  through  Sir  A.  H.  Hardinge,  the  British 
Ambassador.  As  a  matter  of  diplomatic  courtesy,  Trevor 
stopped  for  a  moment,  on  the  way,  to  notify  Sir  Arthur  of 
his  mission  and  the  Royal  command,  but  didn't  take  that 
gentleman  with  him,  for  reasons  which  Sir  Arthur  could 
easily  surmise.  As  His  Lordship  entered  the  apartment 


242  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

in  the  royal  suite  where  the  King  was  awaiting  him,  Al- 
fonso dismissed  the  equerry  and  his  personal  aides. 

"I  presume  Your  Lordship  is  the  bearer  of  some  impor- 
tant communication,  but  that  can  wait  until  we've  talked 
of  more  personal  matters.  I  have  told  Her  Majesty  of 
your  arrival,  and  she  requests  that  you  will  dine  with  us 
this  evening.  Is  Lady  Nan  with  you?" 

"Not  this  time,  Your  Majesty — though  she  would  have 
been  glad  to  accompany  me  if  I  had  been  at  all  certain  as 
to  my  movements.  I  know  she  will  'be  more  than  pleased 
to  run  down  here  at  the  end  of  the  week  if  Your  Majes- 
ties— 

"Send  her  a  wireless  at  once  to  do  so!  Consider  your- 
selves guests  in  the  Casa  Real  for  a  fortnight  or  more. 
You  will  brighten  us  up,  and  help  us  to  forget  this  cursed 
war!" 

"It  is  a  matter  which  concerns  the  war,  Your  Majesty, 
that  brings  me  here  at  this  moment — a  rather  urgent  one, 
in  fact." 

"Oh,  well!  Let's  go  into  it,  and  get  the  thing 
over!" 

"With  Your  Majesty's  permission,  I  will  give  you  an 
exact  account  of  certain  things  which  have  happened 
during  the  last  five  days — mentioning  names  of  which  I'm 
positive,  and  trusting  that  Your  Majesty  will  be  able  to 
draw  an  inference  as  to  certain  others." 

Clearly,  concisely,  Lord  Trevor  described  his  meeting 
with  Raymond  Carter,  of  the  American  Embassy  in  Paris, 
at  Station  House.  He  described  how  Carter  had  been 
watching  Major  Zacata  and  the  Member  of  Parliament, 
who  was  known  to  be  a  Wilhelmstrasse  spy;  their  being 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  243 

followed  to  the  lonely  manor  on  Woldingham  Downs; 
the  presence  of  the  Condesa  de  Santaluna,  and  the  work 
she  admitted  doing  in  Madrid;  the  trip  on  the  cruiser  to 
Cap  Cerbere  and  the  night  flight  over  the  Pyrenees;  the 
discovery  of  the  big  camp — apparently  occupied  by  Span- 
ish troops;  Carter's  discoveries  as  to  the  men,  munitions, 
and  uniforms  which  had  been  coming  into  Barcelona 
from  abroad.  Then  came  a  graphic  description  of  the 
terrific  magazine  explosion,  though  he  was  careful  not  to 
admit  having  anything  to  do  with  it — and  their  final  es- 
cape in  the  biplane.  When  he  finished,  Alfonso  sat  for 
several  moments  in  deep  thought. 

"H-m-m — the  Minister  of  War  has  duly  reported  the 
establishment  of  a  summer  camp  in  that  vicinity  by  the 
Quartermaster  General  for  the  purpose  of  mountain-cam- 
paign and  battery  practice  There  has  been  no  discus- 
sion about  it,  because  it  was  assumed  to  be  merely  routine 
work  of  the  War  Department.  The  actual  strength  of  my 
army,  on  a  peace  footing,  is  less  than  two  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  of  which  fully  three-quarters  are  regularly  sta- 
tioned in  various  provinces  and  islands.  So  a  concen- 
tration of  fifty  thousand  men  in  any  such  camp  as  that 
would  require  a  royal  order,  ratified  by  the  Cortes — because 
France  would  justly  consider  it  a  somewhat  threatening 
mobilization  on  her  borders.  If  you  are  correct  in  your 
estimate  as  to  the  number  of  men  up  there — the  amount  of 
munitions  stored  in  that  magazine — your  story  is  proved 
without  question,  and  I  consider  that  Your  Lordship  was 
entirely  justified  in  blowing  up  that  magazine!" 

"Pardon  me,  Your  Majesty,  I  said  nothing  about  my 
blowing  up  the  magazine!" 


244  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"It  wasn't  necessary!  Had  I  been  in  your  place,  I 
should  have  done  it  myself!  But  we  must  neither  of  us 
admit  it.  Facts  of  that  sort  are  too  easily  twisted  until 
they  become  dangerous.  I  say,  Trevor,  how  many  will 
that  biplane  of  yours  carry  safely?" 

"It  was  built  for  six  men,  at  a  pinch — scouting  over 
enemy  lines.  After  I  have  carefully  overhauled  it,  I 
fancy  there'd  be  little  risk  in  carrying  four." 

"Then  I  think  I  will  make  a  personal  investigation  of 
this  matter.  Two  of  my  Cabinet  Ministers  are  Span- 
ish to  the  backbone — they  would  cheerfully  risk  their 
lives  to  prevent  our  being  drawn  into  this  war.  We'll 
take  them  as  witnesses,  after  telling  them  your  story — 
run  up  from  Barcelona  to  the  bay  near  San  Miguel  on 
one  of  our  own  cruisers,  and  make  the  flight  from  that 
point.  You  can  join  us  on  the  Ranee  at  Barcelona." 

The  King's  plan  was  carried  out  next  day,  the  under 
sides  of  the  big  'plane  being  painted  in  yellow  and  red 
stripes  to  fix  its  identity  from  below  as  a  Spanish  machine. 
Owing  to  this  coloring,  not  a  single  shot  was  fired  as  it 
flew  over  the  camp  in  the  ravine,  the  German  commander 
taking  it  for  granted  that  the  Spanish  Quartermaster  Gen- 
eral would  be  able  to  account  for  anything  seen  by  the 
aviators.  Had  he  guessed  the  identity  of  the  men  who 
could  be  seen  examining  the  effects  of  the  explosion 
through  their  prism-binoculars,  he  would  have  brought  it 
down  by  shell-fire  if  it  had  been  his  last  act  on  earth !  As 
it  was,  the  camp  was  surprised  a  week  later  by  several 
regiments  of  the  Spanish  Army  which  had  silently  crept  up 
the  ridges  and  covered  the  ravine  with  machine-guns 
from  above,  before  any  defense  could  be  made  by  the 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CAMP  245 

munitionless  conspirators.     On  their  return  to  Madrid, 
His  Majesty  made  a  request  of  Trevor: 

"Er — in  regard  to  the  Condesa  de  Santaluna,  would  it 
be  possible  to  get  her  back  in  England  upon  some  excuse 
before  you  arrest  and  deal  with  her?  I'd  rather  Her 
Majesty  would  never  know  of  her  complicity  in  this  affair 
— they  have  always  been  intimate  friends." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A    MACHIAVELLIAN    COUP    IN   ROUMANIA 

THE  Trevors  had  been  guests  at  the  Palacio  Real 
but  a  day  or  two  before  the  heavy  wagers  being 
made  among  dignitaries  of  the  Spanish  Court, 
that  Roumania  would  enter  the  war  on  the  German  side 
within  two  months,  attracted  their  attention.  There  had 
been  daily  communication  between  Trieste  and  a  high- 
altitude  wireless  outfit  in  the  Pyrenees  owned  by  private 
parties,  and  there  was  no  question  but  that  Madrid  was 
getting  confidential  information  from  Berlin  and  Vienna. 
While  His  Lordship  and  Lady  Nan  were  discussing  this 
rumor  with  Their  Majesties — who  were  as  strongly  pro- 
Ally  as  their  Court  was  in  sympathy  with  Germany  and 
Austria — Sir  Abdool  reached  Gibraltar  on  one  of  the  Brit- 
ish cruisers,  and  came  up  to  Madrid  for  a  conference  with 
them.  Through  Oriental  channels  he  had  learned  that 
German  influence  was  being  used  in  Bucharest  success- 
fully— that  the  Roumanian  situation  was  far  more  crit- 
ical than  had  been  supposed  by  the  Entente.  After 
some  discussion  it  was  decided  that  he  and  Lord  Trevor 
should  make  their  way  up  through  Bulgaria,  if  possible — 
having  Lady  Nan  await  their  return  at  Gibraltar  after 
her  stay  with  the  King  and  Queen  had  come  to  an  end. 
Four  days  later  a  long  gray  shadow — practically  invisible 
at  five  miles  in  bright  daylight,  and  not  to  be  seen 

246 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  247 

at  any  distance  on  a  rainy  day — approached  swiftly  to 
within  ten  miles  of  the  Bulgarian  coast,  off  the  Gulf  of 
Lagos.  From  the  mainmast,  right  aft  to  the  stern,  a 
broad  runway  had  been  constructed — near  the  mast  a 
large  cruising  biplane  rested  upon  its  stout  landing-wheels. 
The  upper  plane  had  a  width  of  sixty  feet — there  were  du- 
plicate motors  and  propellers;  tanks  carrying  a  sixty- 
hour  supply  of  petrol.  For  scouting  and  aerial  fight- 
ing, the  machine  was  designed  to  carry  four  men  with  con- 
siderable impedimenta — and  ahead  of  a  stiff  breeze,  it 
had  a  record  of  seven  hundred  miles  in  six  hours'  con- 
tinuous flight. 

As  the  cruiser's  engines  stopped,  ten  miles  offshore,  an 
active  man  in  the  uniform  of  a  rear  admiral  in  the  British 
Navy  appeared  on  the  after-deck  and  spoke  to  the  mecan- 
icien  who  was  tuning  up  the  wire  stays  of  the  big  'plane. 

"Ready  to  start,  Harry?" 

"Aye,  sir — she'll  do  now,  I  fancy!  I've  stowed  the 
two  portmanteaus  where  they  balance  each  other — but 
they  can  be  dropped  off  in  a  second,  at  any  time." 

In  the  ward-room,  below — which  had  been  the  Ranee's 
main  saloon  before  she  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Admiralty — Sir  Francis  Lammerford  and  one  of  the  Brit- 
ish Cabinet  Ministers  were  chatting  with  Sir  Abdool. 
He  was  dressed  in  tweeds  of  similar  cut  to  the  suit  into 
which  Trevor  changed  as  soon  as  he  came  below.  As 
they  were  preparing  to  leave,  His  Lordship  suddenly 
remembered  a  question  he  had  meant  to  ask  Sir  Fran- 
cis. 

"'Lammy',  when  was  the  lawst  information  you  had 
concernin'  Effingbam?  I  should  know,  of  course,  through 


248  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

my  press  syndicate,  but  I  haven't  been  in  touch  with  our 
London  office  for  three  weeks. " 

"Why,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  Effingliam  is  still 
editor  in  chief  of  the  big  daily  sheet  Resboivl.  Frank 
Gait  came  around  from  Petrograd  on  E-72  last  week — 
reporting  him  as  being  entirely  unsuspected  in  his  Down- 
ing Street  capacity.  I  fancy  you're  quite  sure  to  find 
him  plugging  away  on  the  job — an'  he  '11  be  in  position  to 
render  you  valuable  assistance.  You'd  best  watch  out 
for  Major  von  Zimmerling,  however — in  Bucharest.  The 
man's  intuitions  are  a  bit  uncanny.  He's  far  cleverer 
than  Von  Lemholtz,  the  German  minister.  If  you  really 
fool  him,  you'll  have  the  support  of  every  German  and 
Austrian  in  Roumania." 

A  few  moments  later  His  Lordship  and  Sir  Abdool 
strapped  themselves  in  their  places  behind  the  mecan- 
icien,  on  the  big  'plane,  and  waved  their  hands  to  the  men 
on  deck  as  the  machine  lifted  gracefully  into  the  air — fly- 
ing at  a  steadily  increasing  altitude  in  the  direction  of  the 
Bulgarian  coast.  When  they  were  over  the  mouth  of  the 
River  Karasou,  Trevor  outlined  the  course  to  be  fol- 
lowed. 

"  If  we  don't  run  into  a  bank  of  clouds  over  the  moun- 
tains, Harry,  you  can  follow  the  river  clear  up  to  within 
twenty  miles  of  the  Rilo  Monastery  and  lift  over  that 
jumble  of  peaks  to  the  north  of  it.  But  if  it  happens  to 
thicken  up,  keep  a  straight  compass-bearing  of  northwest 
by  north — right  on  the  point.  That'll  fetch  us  to  the 
summit  of  the  Vitosa  Planina,  d'rectly  south  of  Sofia,  in  a 
bit  under  four  hours — at  the  rate  we're  goin'  now. " 

"Aye,  sir.     You'll  be  coming  down  at  the  same  open 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  249 

level  on  top  of  that  range  where  I  took  you  when  we  made 
the  flight  from  Saloniki,  I  suppose?" 

"That's  the  place!  It's  not  the  highest  point  of  the 
ridge — can't  see  that  from  the  city — but  it's  forty-three 
hundred  feet  higher  than  Sofia,  and  in  plain  sight." 

Roughly,  the  air-line  distance  from  the  ,/Egean  Sea  was 
just  under  two  hundred  miles — more  than  half  of  which 
lay  along  the  valley  of  the  Karasu.  They  were  troubled 
very  little  with  cross-currents  until  they  went  over  the 
Rilo  Dagh,  9,845  feet  above  sea-level,  where  the  cold  was 
intense  for  an  hour.  Being  well  protected  against  this, 
however,  they  finally  descended  without  accident  in  a 
small  clearing  which  had  been  used  by  Austrian  engineers, 
several  years  before,  for  a  triangulation  point.  Con- 
cealing the  big  'plane  in  a  ravine  which  ran  along  one  side, 
Trevor  opened  two  cans  of  red  fire  and  made  a  trail  of  the 
powder  along  the  precipitous  edge  of  the  mountain  facing 
the  Bulgarian  capital,  4,300  feet  below  them  on  the  plain 
of  the  River  Isker — a  quantity  calculated  to  burn  for  half 
an  hour. 

When  he  had  lighted  this  they  hurried  down  a  rough 
trail  to  a  point  where  the  road  ended,  two  miles  from  the 
little  village  of  Dragalevski. 

By  the  time  they  had  covered  the  four  miles  of  descent 
they  came  upon  a  motionless  automobile  in  the  woods  at  the 
end  of  the  road,  with  a  solitary  figure  in  the  driver's  seat. 

"That  you,  Stannard?" 

"Aye.  Just  a  chance  that  I  happened  to  see  your  sig- 
nal !  That  nest  of  intrigue,  down  yonder,  is  gettin'  worse 
all  the  time — in  fact,  I  wonder  every  morning  that  half  of 
us  are  alive!  But  there's  a  reaction  against  Teutonic  in- 


250  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

fluence  already — an'  I'm  supposed  to  be  an  American 
engineer  employed  by  a  syndicate,  here,  on  mining  an'  rail- 
way-development projects.  I've  been  concealed  half  the 
night  in  an  upper  room  of  a  house  near  the  infantry  bar- 
racks— getting  a  line  on  some  members  of  the  Sobranje. 
I  just  happened  to  poke  my  head  through  the  roof -scuttle 
before  your  light  went  out." 

"Suppose  any  one  else  noticed  it?" 

"There  was  no  indication  that  they  did.  People  are 
either  conspiring  in  some  private  room  or  asleep  at  this 
time  of  night — an'  there's  always  a  bit  of  military  signallin* 
goin'  on,  one  place  or  another.  Even  if  some  of  the  officers 
noticed  your  fire,  they  wouldn't  suspect  anything  until 
they  compared  notes  with  the  detachments  coming  back 
in  a  week  or  so." 

"We're  carryin'  Austrian  passports,  Stannard — with 
Hungarian  an'  Turkish  visfe  on  them.  May  need  en- 
tirely diff'rent  papers  when  we  leave  for  the  north.  What 
are  the  chances  of  gettin*  settled  in  town  without  bein* 
stopped  an'  examined  by  some  official?" 

"H-m-m — I  can  get  you  into  the  city  before  two  o'clock. 
The  railway  station  is  on  the  other  side,  as  you  know — an* 
there's  no  watch  kept  upon  vehicles  comin'  in  by  the  Drag- 
alevski  Road.  I'll  drop  you  at  the  gate  of  the  Austrian 
Legation  an'  get  out  of  sight  before  any  one  recognizes  me. 
The  Austrian  Minister  should  be  able  to  send  you  along  be- 
fore daylight  to  lodgings  where  no  questions  will  be  asked 
— if  you  manage  to  convince  him  that  you  belong  to  his 
own  Foreign  Office,  or  Wilhelmstrasse.  Say  you  came 
in  over  the  Serbian  border  by  motor;  a  lot  of  officers  are 
comin'  an'  goiu*  that  way." 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  251 

"Very  good!  Fawncy  we  can  pull  that  off  with  little 
diffic'lty — I  know  practically  all  of  their  recognition-signs 
an'  passwords!  At  all  events,  Harry,  there'll  be  no  use  in 
your  waitin*  longer  than  to-morrow  night.  If  neither  of 
us  turns  up  by  that  time,  you  can  start  back  to  the  Ranee. 
It's  possible  we  may  come  out  by  way  of  Odessa  an'  run 
down  off  the  Bosphorus  on  one  of  the  Russian  cruisers;  in 
that  case  Lammerford  will  get  a  wireless  message  from  us, 
an'  you  can  fly  over  Stamboul  with  the  'plane." 

The  ride  into  the  city  was  accomplished  silently,  with- 
out meeting  any  one  who  gave  them  more  than  a  passing 
glance.  At  the  Austrian  Legation,  five  minutes'  talk  with 
the  Minister  convinced  him  that  they  were  distinguished 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  on  secret  service  for  the 
Teutonic  powers;  and  he  sent  them,  as  guests,  to  the 
house  of  a  handsome  Viennese  who  lived,  with  a  supposed 
husband,  in  the  aristocratic  residence  quarter  south  of  the 
palace. 

The  four  met  at  breakfast — taking  stock  of  and  testing 
each  other  in  ways  which  any  one  unfamiliar  with  secret- 
service  methods  would  never  have  suspected.  Trevor 
(as  Colonel  von  Pappenheim)  and  Sir  Abdool  (as  Narub 
Pasha)  were  thoroughly  convincing  in  their  assumed  r61es* 
Liechtenstein  jokingly  tested  the  Afghan  with  a  few  halt- 
ing words  of  Arabic,  but  was  so  promptly  flooded  with  the 
real  thing  that  Madame  Irma  laughed  at  him.  From  the 
Colonel's  accent,  she  judged  him  a  Berliner — asking  after 
a  number  of  acquaintances  in  that  city  whom  he  seemed  to 
know  rather  intimately. 

On  Trevor's  part,  however,  he  was  considerably  doubt- 
ful as  to  just  where  Madame  Irma  and  her  supposed  hus- 


252  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

band  stood.  That  they  were  not  really  married,  he  was 
certain — after  catching  a  side  remark  between  them  in 
Russian,  which  they  appeared  to  speak  a  little  too  well  for 
Austrians.  That  it  might  be  possible  they  were  actually- 
secret  agents  of  the  Entente,  rather  than  of  Germany  and 
Austria,  did  not  surprise  him  in  the  least. 

Of  all  the  spots  in  Europe  during  the  year  1916,  Sofia 
and  Bucharest  were  preeminent  as  places  where  people 
were  most  emphatically  not  what  they  appeared  to  be. 
Liechtenstein  and  his  wife  might  be  loyal  Austrians — dis- 
tant connections  of  the  "Prince,"  as  he  claimed — or  with 
equal  probability,  they  might  be  secret  agents  of  the  Allies 
who  had  succeeded  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  Aus- 
trian Minister  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were  obtaining 
vital  information  for  London,  Paris,  and  Petrograd.  Half 
the  deputies  in  the  Sobranje  were  opposed  to  the  German 
alliance — saw  in  it  the  eventual  ruin  of  Bulgaria — con- 
spired, day  and  night,  to  free  their  country  from  it.  The 
other  hah*  were  quite  as  strongly  determined  to  go  on  with 
what  they  had  begun,  as  the  only  possible  way  out  of  the 
mess. 

Trevor's  interest  in  the  Bulgarian  capital  was,  at  this 
time,  merely  a  transient  one.  He  meant  to  sow  a  few 
seeds  of  discord,  if  possible,  but  his  objective  was  Rou- 
mania;  and  it  was  necessary  for  his  plans  that  they  should 
enter  that  country  from  the  Teutonic  side  as  emissaries  of 
Germany — under  the  rose.  He  could  easily  have  reached 
Petrograd  in  a  British  submarine  and  entered  Roumania 
from  the  Russian  side  with  no  difficulty  at  all;  but  in  that 
case,  it  would  have  been  a  more  dangerous  problem  to  gain 
the  confidence  of  Germans  in  Bucharest  to  a  point  where 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  253 

they  accepted  him  as  one  of  themselves.  Madame  Irma 
von  Liechtenstein  presented  a  possible  element  of  danger 
which  he  dared  not  overlook.  If  she  were  a  loyal  Aus- 
trian, her  letters  of  recommendation  would  prove  exceed- 
ingly valuable  in  Bucharest;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  she 
were  an  agent  of  the  Entente,  she  would  be  certain  to  write 
ahead  and  prepare  a  fatal  trap  for  him,  if  indeed  she  didn't 
manage  to  have  him  put  out  of  business  in  Sofia. 

While  they  were  discussing  mutual  acquaintances  in 
Roumania  one  morning  she  happened  casually  to  mention 
the  Fraulein  Hilda  von  Helmuth,  who  occupied  a  hand- 
some residence  of  her  own  on  the  upper  Calea  Victoriei  in 
Bucharest.  Trevor's  detached  glance  and  perfectly  com- 
posed manner  betrayed  no  hint  of  the  sudden  interest  this 
name  aroused  in  him.  He  lighted  a  cigar — rather  delib- 
erately. 

"  Could  it  be  possible  that  the  Fraulein  you  mention  is 
the  one  who  was  visiting  friends  in  Berlin  about  eight 
months  ago?" 

"Why — yes.  Hilda  was  in  Berlin  just  about  that 
time!" 

"  Er — wasn't  it  she  who  disappeared  from  there  so  mys- 
teriously a  few  weeks  later — supposed  to  have  been  killed 
or  something  of  the  sort?" 

"I  never  heard  of  her  being  killed — nor  she,  either,  I 
imagine!  She's  at  her  home  in  Bucharest  now!" 

"You  surprise  me!  We  can't  be  speaking  of  the  same 
person.  H-m-m — tell  me,  madame,  did  she  ever  men- 
tion to  you  her  acquaintance  with  a  Doktor  Liebknecht, 
who  was  Ober  Redakteur  of  the  Deutches  Reichspressbund  f 
You  seem  to  be  a  rather  intimate  friend — if  we  are 


254  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

speaking  of  the  same  woman;  she  would  possibly  have 
mentioned  the  Doktor  to  you." 

Madame  Irma  gave  him  a  penetrating  but  swiftly 
veiled  glance — the  conversation  was  taking  a  most  amaz- 
ing turn,  if  this  Colonel  von  Pappenheim  were  really  what 
he  claimed  to  be. 

"I  think  there  can  be  no  mistake  as  to  identity,  Herr 
Oberst.  Hilda  has  spoken  to  me  of  this  Doktor  Lieb- 
knecht  more  than  once.  I  have  an  impression  that  he 
saved  her  life  in  Berlin — at  a  time  when,  through  some 
horrible  misunderstanding,  she  was  suspected  of  being  a 
French  spy,  and  would  have  been  shot  before  there  was  any 
chance  of  proving  her  innocence." 

"Soh?  And  did  she  tell  you  of  finding  herself  near  Mt. 
Snowdon,  in  Wales — after  disappearing  from  Berlin,  where 
I  am  quite  positive  she  is  supposed  to  have  been  drowned 
at  sea?" 

The  color  faded  out  of  Madame  Irma's  face;  it  was  at 
least  hah*  a  minute  before  she  dared  trust  herself  to  speak. 
"Herr  Oberst,  it  seems  to  me  you  must  be  of  Wilhelm- 
strasse,  rather  than  Vienna,  and  have  picked  up  some 
rather  amazing  misinformation  concerning  my  poor 
friend!" 

"At  least,  I  can  assure  you  of  one  thing,  madame — I  do 
not  share  all  of  my  information  with  Wilhelmstrasse. 
Unless  she  has  been  recognized  in  Roumania  by  some  Ber- 
lin agent  familiar  with  the  story,  Fraulein  von  Helmuth  is 
officially  supposed  to  be  dead.  She  was  invited  by  a  staff 
officer,  in  whose  house  she  was  staying,  to  go  with  him  for 
a  short  trial  flight  in  a  new  zeppelin,  from  Nauen.  This 
Doktor  Liebknecht  and  another  officer  were  also  of  the 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  255 

party.  They  had  gotten  into  the  car  when  the  General 
was  called  away  for  a  few  moments;  and,  in  the  gale  which 
was  blowing  at  the  time,  the  zeppelin  happened  to  break 
loose  from  its  moorings  before  he  returned.  Several  days 
afterward,  it  was  seen  by  the  people  on  a  passing  Cunarder 
to  drop  into  the  Atlantic  and  sink  before  a  boat  could 
reach  it.  I  happen  to  be  a  close  personal  friend  of  the 
Doktor's;  he  told  me  the  whole  story." 

"And — knowing  it — why  have  you  never  repeated  it 
to  the  Wilhelmstrasse  people?" 

"Because  there  wasn't  a  shred  of  real  evidence  a  gains  c 
the  two  men  and  the  girl  who  were  accidentally  carried  off 
in  that  zeppelin !  I  don't  want  them  shot  if  they  return  to 
Berlin!  Liebknecht  is  one  of  the  big  men  in  journalism; 
the  Fraulein  is  a  brilliant  and  interesting  girl.  It  would 
be  inexcusable  to  kill  them  without  very  strong  rea- 
sons." 

That  afternoon  Madame  Irma  called  upon  Olga  Nap- 
aulova,  a  celebrated  Russian  diva  who,  though  a  privi- 
leged friend  of  the  royal  family,  was  hi  the  service  of  the 
Petrograd  Foreign  Office.  When  quite  sure  they  could  not 
be  overheard,  she  briefly  told  the  diva  all  she  knew  con- 
cerning the  German  colonel  and  Turkish  pasha  who  were 
her  supposed  guests. 

"We  made  them  welcome  at  the  Austrian  Minister's 
suggestion — of  course.  It  was  too  good  an  opportunity  for 
obtaining  information  under  conditions  where  they  sup- 
posed themselves  quite  safe  in  what  they  said  or  hinted. 
But  I'm  beginning  to  be  afraid  of  this  Von  Pappenheim; 
he  knows  altogether  too  much — for  a  Wilhelmstrasse  man !" 


256  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

For  several  moments  Madame  Napaulova  thought  over 
m  silence  what  had  been  told  her. 

"Irma,  you  and  Leichtenstein  mean  to  have  those  men 
put  away  somewhere — or  left  in  the  hands  of  unscrupu- 
lous Bulgarians  who  will  probably  kill  them — yes?  You 
certainly  have  no  idea  of  letting  them  get  into  Roumania 
and  use  their  influence  toward  swinging  the  country  over 
to  the  German  side!  But  I  fear  you'll  be  making  the 
same  terrible  mistake  that  we  did  concerning  Doktor 
Liebknecht  right  here  in  Sofia.  D'Arlenon  was  warned  by 
Hilda  von  Helmuth  not  to  harm  him  until  absolutely  posi- 
tive as  to  which  side  the  man  was  on.  He  thought  he 
had  proof  enough — abducted  the  Doktor  and  turned  him 
over  to  three  Bulgarian  assassins  who  would  have  cut  his 
throat  if  he  had  not  outwitted  them  completely.  Then  we 
obtained  information  which  strongly  indicated  his  being 
one  of  the  most  famous  men  in  Downing  Street. 

"I  don't  see  how  it  is  possible  for  this  Von  Pappenheim 
to  know  what  he  does  of  the  Doktor's  escape  from  Berlin 
unless  Liebknecht  himself  gave  him  the  details!  And  if 
he  did  that,  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  Colonel  von  Pap- 
penheim is  actually  on  our  side — taking  this  way  of  getting 
into  Roumania  in  order  to  be  accepted  by  the  Germans 
as  one  of  themselves !  For  Heaven's  sake,  don't  make  the 
mistake  D'Arlenon  did;  men  of  Leibknecht's  ability  are 
altogether  too  rare!  Send  word  about  him  to  Hilda  by 
some  messenger  you  can  trust.  Or  rather — let  me  do 
that!  One  of  our  Petrograd  men  goes  up  to-morrow." 

Several  days  later  Von  Lemholtz — the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Minister  at  Bucharest — was  giving  final  instructions 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  257 

to  a  Wilhelmstrasse  man  who  was  about  to  leave  for  Ber- 
lin, and  the  talk  had  gotten  around  to  a  couple  of  recent 
arrivals  who  had  been  under  espionage  from  the  moment 
they  entered  the  city. 

"This  Herr  Oberst  von  Pappenheim  and  Narub  Pasha, 
who  have  so  mysteriously  disappeared  during  the  last 
twenty-four  hours,  are  bigger  men  than  either  you  or  I, 
my  good  Franz!  I  was  sure  of  them  at  first,  in  spite  of 
the  letters  they  brought  from  the  Austrian  Legation  at 
Sofia.  In  our  first  interview  they  gave  no  indication  of 
being  other  than  two  wealthy  business  men  of  the  United 
States,  as  they  claimed,  over  here  to  secure  orders  for  war 
material.  But  when  I  invited  them  to  motor  out  of  the 
city  with  me  and  began  testing  them  a  little,  I  became  posi- 
tive that  they  were  of  the  inner  Wilhelmstrasse  circle — 
men  who  are  unquestionably  in  the  confidence  of  the  kai- 
ser and  the  War  Staff.  You  will  understand,  of  course, 
that  it  is  not  for  either  of  us  to  mention  our  knowledge  of 
that  fact,  or  even  to  hint  at  it.  If  we  did  so,  it  might  de- 
feat the  objects  for  which  they  are  in  Roumania — and 
might  cost  us  our  official  positions,  if  nothing  worse.  You 
will  know  nothing  of  them  when  you  reach  Berlin — be- 
yond what  they  wish  to  be  known  here — that  they  are 
American  business  men.  You  will  make  no  mistake  about 
that,  my  good  Franz!" 

"Nein — if  Your  Excellency  is  quite  sure  of  your  facts?" 
"Pouf!  Major  von  Zimmerling  and  Karl  Schumm 
have  corroborated  them.  Not  in  so  many  words,  you 
understand!  They  have  simply  assured  me  that  those 
two  supposed  Americans  must  be  given  all  the  assistance 
which  can  be  extended  to  them  while  in  this  vicinity.  By 


258  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

that,  I  know  they  have  been  tested  in  every  possible  way. 
And  Von  Pappenheim,  himself,  gave  me  information 
which  will  prevent  our  making  a  stupendous  blunder  in 
the  case  of  another  valuable  agent  of  Wilhelmstrasse. 
Did  you  hear  anything  in  Berlin  concerning  a  certain 
Hilda  von  Helmuth — about  eight  months  ago?" 

"The  Fraulein  von  Helmuth!  Hmph!  A  spy  of  the 
Quai  d'  Orsay  who  escaped  from  Nauen  in  a  new  zeppelin 
and  was  drowned  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  a  few  days  later!" 

"On  the  contrary,  my  good  Franz!  She  is  living  here 
in  Bucharest,  to-day,  in  a  handsome  residence  of  her  own 
which  she  has  occupied  for  several  years !  You  remember 
the  case  of  Von  Spiegel — who  was  caught  with  secret 
memoranda  of  the  War  Staff  in  a  belt  under  his  shirt — and 
shot  at  sunrise?" 

"Donner!  That  is  not  easily  forgotten!  It  cast  sus- 
picion upon  everyone  in  the  Service!" 

"Precisely!  As  did  also  the  man  Rupert  Wormser — 
who  was  caught  with  practically  the  same  evidence! 
Well,  it  was  the  Fraulein  von  Helmuth  who  shadowed 
them  and  secured  the  proof  in  both  cases!  And  until 
very  recently  she  has  been  supposed  a  French  spy !  Von 
Pappenheim  told  me  this  information  had  been  sent  to 
Von  Jagow  by  letter — but  suggested  that  any  one  going  to 
Berlin  within  a  week  or  so  had  better  repeat  it  personally. 
The  Fraulein  has  given  me  valuable  information  right 
here  in  Bucharest  and  is  in  position  to  obtain  more,  through 
her  wide  acquaintance  among  the  court  officials.  Her 
real  status  must  be  thoroughly  understood  in  Berlin  as 
soon  as  possible  in  order  to  prevent  regrettable  mistakes." 

"Hmph!     I'm  glad  Your  Excellency  told  me  this.     One 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  259 

of  the  most  deadly  features  in  this  game  we  play  is  assum- 
ing the  nationality  of  enemies  in  order  to  get  our  infor- 
mation, and  we're  too  often  shot  by  our  own  people  on 
suspicion  that  we're  traitors!  By  the  way,  did  I  under- 
stand that  Von  Pappenheim  and  the  Pasha  have  myster- 
iously disappeared?" 

"Yes.  They  had  a  suite  at  the  Grand  Hotel  Boule- 
vard on  the  Elizabeta  and  have  made  quite  a  number  of 
acquaintances  here  during  the  last  four  or  five  days — but 
nobody  has  seen  anything  of  them  since  Thursday  noon, 
when  they  motored  out  to  the  Jockey  Club." 

"H-m-m Wonder  if  any  of  the  Entente  people 

have  done  away  with  them?" 

"Von  Zimmerling  and  Schumm  are  looking  into  that 
now — they  are  too  valuable  men  to  be  wiped  out  without  a 
severe  accounting!  But  my  personal  belief  is  that  they 
have  assumed  other  characters  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
information  here  in  Bucharest.  Even  from  our  brief 
acquaintance,  I  should  imagine  them  artists  at  that  sort  of 
thing." 

While  Von  Pappenheim  and  Narub  Pasha  were  under 
discussion  at  the  German  Legation,  two  dignified  Turks  of 
the  better  class  were  taking  coffee,  after  their  pilau  and 
kabobs,  in  the  seldmlik  of  a  house  in  the  eastern,  or  Sara- 
cenic, quarter  of  Bucharest.  From  a  curtained  archway 
came  the  tinkle  of  an  Oriental  guitar  and  the  caterwauling 
which  passes  for  song  among  Arabs  and  Osmanli,  but  to 
this  the  dignified  Pasha  gave  not  the  slightest  attention 
until  the  monotonous  syllables  were  varied  by  a  rich  con- 
tralto voice  singing  a  plaintive  Russian  melody.  He 
was  courteously  ignoring  it,  after  the  manner  of  Orientals, 


260  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

when  an  apologetic  smile  appeared  under  the  white  beard 
of  his  host. 

"What  thou  nearest,  Pasha  Effendi,  hath  a  strange 
sound  in  the  ears  of  Osmanli — but  we,  in  Bucharest, 
adopt  some  of  the  feringhee  customs  as  a  means  of  better 
acquaintance  with  those  among  whom  we  live.  Also, 
the  times  be  changing  from  the  old  order.  Some  of  our 
women  receive  education  in  Paris  and  other  cities  of  the 
giaour,  and  very  many  of  our  young  men.  Even  /  do  not 
insist  upon  the  yashmak,  as  when  I  was  a  young  married 
man  with  my  first  wives;  my  women  seldom  wear  it  in  the 
house,  and  I  sometimes  permit  them  to  eat  with  those  who 
I  know  will  respect  them.  Again,  there  be  matters  spoken 
of  in  the  bazaars  by  this  one  or  that  one.  There  be  wo- 
men 's  gossip  in  the  houses  of  the  giaours  which  is  picked  up 
and  remembered  in  the  harim,  where  the  tale  is  told  me  as 
it  was  heard.  Thus  knowledge  is  come  by  which  may  be 
used  by  thee  and  me.  Thou  wert  speaking  of  senators 
and  deputies  who  may  be  under  German  influence — who 
recently  favored  commercial  treaties  with  Germany  and 
Austria?  Touching  upon  such  a  matter,  one  hears  these 
things:  First — there  is  Lacoresco,  a  Senator  and  former 
Cabinet  Minister.  He  is  secretly  supported  by  Vascelor, 
Brundei,  Dudesti,  Cantemir,  and  others  who  be  lesser  men. 
The  Roumanian  people  do  not  favor  German  influence  in 
any  way.  Her  Majesty  is  English — a  Princess  of  Saxe 
Coburg  Gotha,  but  her  father  was  King  Edward's  brother 
and  she  hath  a  large  following  here.  The  King  is  a  Hohen- 
zollern  prince — he  hath  imposed  his  will  upon  Parliament 
with  the  assistance  of  the  men  I  named  to  thee.  But,  look 
thou !  He  is  more  concerned  with  the  future  of  Roumania 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  261 

than  any  feeling  of  loyalty  for  his  German  relatives — and 
might  declare  war  against  them  were  he  certain  as  to  that 
which  be  written." 

"Thinkest  thou  these  men  were  bought,  Effendi — that 
they  are  supporting  Germany,  against  Roumanian  in- 
terests?" 

"Of  that,  I  have  no  certain  knowledge.  Yet  it  is  said 
that  there  be  weighty  reasons  for  what  they  do — and 
they  risk  much  in  doing  it.  There  be  mutterings  in  the 
air  against  them — that  their  lives  will  not  be  of  great 
length — for,  if  what  is  whispered  in  the  bazaars  be  true, 
they  will  be  regarded  as  traitors  to  the  best  interests  of 
their  countrymen  in  Bukovina,  across  the  mountains,  who 
have  been  oppressed  by  Austria  for  centuries.  Roumania 
is  Latin  and  Slav — not  Teuton." 

"If  now,  Effendi,  certain  matters  should  come  to  pass 
by  which  the  influence  of  these  men  be  curtailed  or  re- 
moved, the  people  here  would  say  it  was  the  will  of  Allah, 
would  they  not?" 

"Thou  speakest  words  of  wisdom,  Pasha  Effendi.  It 
is  written  that  what  thou  hath  said  will  come  to  pass  be- 
fore many  days — but  it  be  a  matter  that  one  may  not 
venture  hastily,  lest  he  fall  by  the  way.  The  arm  of  the 
German  is  strong  and  reacheth  far.  Behold!  We  Os- 
manli  did  not  desire  war  and  slept  not  in  the  same  tent 
with  the  German — yet  it  came  to  pass  that  we  fought 
against  the  Inglesi,  who  have  been  our  friends,  before  we 
knew  how  the  fighting  started." 

After  Lord  Trevor  and  Sir  Abdool,  in  their  recently 
assumed  characters,  were  seen  driving  out  to  the  Jockey 
Club  early  Thursday  afternoon,  they  apparently  van- 


262  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ished  into  the  air.  Sir  Abdool  had  vaulted  from  the  car  at 
a  turn  of  the  road  in  the  suburbs  without  being  noticed  by 
the  chauffeur — and  had  entered  an  apparently  unoccupied 
house,  from  which  he  presently  emerged  as  a  Turk  of  the 
old  regime,  with  turban  and  baggy  trousers.  His  Lord- 
ship, as  Colonel  von  Pappenheim,  had  dismissed  the  car  at 
the  club-house,  and  returned  to  the  city  with  a  couple  of 
Roumanian  officers  who  set  him  down  near  the  end  of  the 
Elizabeta.  Turning  into  a  narrow  alley,  he  exchanged  his 
Fedora  hat  for  a  cloth  cap  which  he  drew  from  his  pocket 
and — moistening  his  fingers  from  a  small  bottle — took  all 
of  the  upward  twist  from  the  ends  of  his  blond  moustache, 
giving  it  an  English  droop  instead.  He  then  assumed  a 
rather  slouching  gait  entirely  different  from  his  military 
German  bearing.  The  changes  were  slight  enough  in 
themselves;  yet  nobody  who  had  not  closely  studied  his 
face  and  figure  would  have  recognized  him  as  the  same  man 
when  he  walked  down  the  Strada  Lipscani  and  entered  the 
office  of  Resboiul,  one  of  the  leading  daily  newspapers. 

Telling  a  page  on  the  lower  floor  that  he  wished  to  see 
the  editor  hi  chief  upon  matters  connected  with  the  Inter- 
national Press  Syndicate,  he  was  presently  taken  upstairs 
to  a  private  room  where  a  man  of  forty-five — either 
French  or  Italian,  from  his  appearance — was  seated  at  a 
large  flat  desk.  When  the  door  was  closed  Trevor  offered 
his  cigar-case  to  the  editor,  lighted  a  long  brown  invincible 
himself,  and  pulled  a  chair  up  close  to  the  desk. 

"You  prob'ly  don't  recognize  me,  Effingham — but  you 
will  when  I  ask  about  that  trunkful  of  clothes  I  left  here 
eight  months  ago.  S-s-h!  Better  not  mention  names! 
There's  too  much  German  influence  here.  A  couple  of  us 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  263 

came  up  through  Bulgaria  to  see  if  something  couldn't 
be  done  to  offset  it.  The  trunk  is  in  that  little  dressing 
room  of  yours,  I  suppose?  Exactly!  Any  chance  of 
bein'  seen  while  I  make  a  few  changes?" 

"  Can't  think  of  any,  old  chap.  There's  only  this  door 
and  one  window  in  that  room.  Fellow  might  see  you 
from  an  aeroplane,  but  that's  the  only  way.  My  people 
downstairs  wouldn't  allow  any  one  to  put  a  ladder  against 
the  building,  and  there's  a  twenty-foot  open  space  all 
around  it.  I'll  give  orders  that  you're  a  man  from  the 
Syndicate  headquarters — so  that  you  can  get  in  here  any 
hour  of  the  day  or  night.  When  you've  made  your  change, 
I'll  tell  you  about  conditions  in  Bucharest.  May  help 
some — though  of  course  I  don't  know  how  well  posted 
you  may  happen  to  be." 

For  the  next  two  days  Trevor  called  at  various  houses 
and  offices — part  of  the  time  as  a  Russian  engineer,  and 
then  as  an  Englishman  of  title  who  had  known  the  Queen 
at  home,  before  her  marriage.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
when  Sir  Abdool  took  luncheon  with  Sidi  Achmet  Effendi 
in  the  old  Mohammedan  quarter,  His  Lordship  called  upon 
the  Fraulein  Hilda  von  Helmuth  at  her  beautifully  fur- 
nished house  in  the  Calea  Victoriei — as  the  Prussian  Colo- 
nel, Von  Pappenheim. 

After  fifteen  minutes  of  confidential  talk,  she  became 
convinced  that  he  was  the  man  she  had  formerly  known  as 
Doktor  Hermann  Liebknecht — to  whom  she  most  cer- 
tainly owed  her  life  and  liberty  and  who,  she  was  positive, 
must  be  one  of  the  most  brilliant  men  in  Downing  Street. 
While  they  were  talking,  her  butler  admitted  another 


264  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

caller,  a  Major  Konstantine  Radeff,  whom  she  introduced 
as  a  Bulgarian — formerly  a  member  of  the  Sobranje, 
and  more  recently  squadron-commander  in  a  cavalry  regi- 
ment which  had  been  active  in  the  Serbian  campaign. 
After  they  had  chatted  for  a  while  upon  casual  topics, 
she  took  them  to  a  smoking  den  on  the  second  floor  which 
had  been  made  sound-proof  for  the  purpose  of  secret  con- 
ferences. When  the  leather-upholstered  door  'was  closed, 
she  joined  them  with  a  Turkish  cigarette  and  did  some 
necessary  explaining. 

"Major,  you  know  that  I  am  supposed  to  be  in  the 
service  of  Willwlmstrasssc.  Our  good  friend,  the  Herr 
Oberst,  assures  me  that  it  is  again  safe  for  me  to  venture 
into  Berlin — though  it  seems  a  miracle  that  he  has  been 
able  to  create  that  impression  there.  You  both  know, 
however,  that  my  sympathies  and  my  services  belong 
elsewhere.  The  Colonel  himself  is  accepted  by  every 
Wilhelmstrasse  agent  in  Bucharest  as  being  unquestion- 
ably one  of  them.  Yet  he  assisted  me  to  escape  from  Ber- 
lin when  I  certainly  would  have  been  shot  within  a  day  or 
two.  You,  Major,  are  accepted  by  every  German  or  Aus- 
trian as  a  Bulgar  from  Sofia — who  has  fought  with  them 
against  the  Serbs.  Yet  to  one  who  knows  certain  things 
— you  ride,  sometimes,  like  an  officer  of  Cossacks,  and 
you  understand  the  subtle  point  of  a  joke  in  Russian  as 
no  Bulgar  ever  understood  it.  You  and  I  both  have  sus- 
pected that  several  of  our  Roumanian  senators  and  dep- 
uties were  secretly  using  their  influence  in  favor  of  Berlin 
for  more  solid  reasons  than  mere  conviction,  but  we  haven't 
been  able  to  obtain  sufficient  proof  to  expose  them  in  the 
newspapers  or  to  justify  more  extreme  measures.  Where 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  265 

we  failed,  the  Colonel  and  a  friend  who  is  with  him  have 
succeeded.  They  know  that  large  sums  of  money  and 
other  considerations  have  been  accepted  here  by  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  men  in  public  life — and  have  the  evi- 
dence ! " 

"Then  we  are,  at  last,  in  position  to  strike  a  blow, 
Fraulein!  There  should  be  no  delay!" 

"What  do  you  suggest,  mon  ami?  I  think  the  problem 
may  not  prove  quite  as  simple  as  you  imagine.  These  men 
are  all  prominent  and  influential." 

Radeff  lighted  a  cigar.  A  look  of  vindictive  unscrupu- 
lousness  appeared  in  his  crafty  eyes. 

"Each  of  those  men  is  more  dangerous — both  to  Rou- 
mania  and  the  Entente — than  a  whole  brigade  in  the  field ! 
A  dead  snake  can  poison  no  more  people!" 

Von  Pappenheim  raised  a  slightly  protesting  hand. 

"Depends  somewhat  upon  how  wide  an  acquaintance, 
how  many  personal  friends  and  relatives,  the  'dead  snake' 
happens  to  have,  don't  you  know!  I've  known  'dead 
snakes'  that  were  considered  martyrs — and  refused  to  stay 
buried.  I  '11  not  deny,  Major,  that  I've  killed  men  when 
there  was  no  other  alternative — but  they  had  an  equal 
chance  with  me,  as  a  rule.  Assassination  has  never  seemed 
entirely  justifiable  in  my  country." 

"  Suppose  we  say  execution  instead  of  the  more  offensive 
word?  Your  country  executes  traitors  and  criminals,  I 
presume?" 

"Aye — but  usually  after  a  fair  trial,  in  which  they  have 
every  opportunity  to  produce  evidence  in  their  own  de- 
fense." 

"Suppose  you  are  convinced  of  their  guilt,  and  there  is 


266  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

no  time  for  a  trial?  Suppose  the  opportunity  for  execu- 
tion may  not  come  again?  " 

"Oh,  extreme  cases  demand  extreme  measures,  of  course. 
But  I  think  we  may  accomplish  our  object  with  these  mem- 
bers of  the  Roumanian  parliament  and  yet  avoid  assassi- 
nation. For  example,  suppose  half  a  dozen  of  them,  and 
as  many  loyal  Roumanians,  were  invited  to  dinner  either 
by  Von  Lemholtz  or  Von  Zimmerling — known  to  be  a 
representative  of  Wilhelmstrasse — and  that  there  were 
other  guests  believed  to  be  in  sympathy  or  connected 
with  the  Teutonic  powers?  Include  a  couple  of  leading 
newspaper  editors.  Place  an  expert  pickpocket  among 
the  dinner  servants.  Have  him  plant  imperial  Russian 
banknotes,  of  ten  thousand  roubles  each,  in  the  pocket- 
ets  of  those  men  we  desire  to  eliminate.  I  will  supply  the 
money.  Er — do  you  begin  to  catch  the  idea?" 

The  Fraulein  clapped  her  hands  in  sheer  delight  as  the 
Machiavellian  inference  became  clear  in  her  mind.  "Oh! 
But  that  is  exquisite,  mon  ami!  C'est  un  coup  trop 
beau  !  You  see  it,  do  you  not,  Konstantine?  At  the 
close  of  the  meal,  when  everyone  is  in  good  humor,  some- 
one denounces  those  men — some  loyal  senator,  shall  we 
say,  who  has  been  tipped  off  to  demand  that  they  be 
searched!  I've  just  the  man  in  mind — Stefan  Macelari 
— a  man  whose  honesty  is  a  byword  throughout  the 
country!  He  searches  them — finds  the  Russian  money! 
It  is  just  as  treacherous  for  our  senators  to  sell  themselves 
to  Russia  as  to  Berlin!  The  editors  will  print  a  full  ac- 
count of  their  treachery;  public  opinion  will  force  them 
to  resign  in  disgrace!  As  for  the  Willielmstrasse  men, 
they  will  be  certain  they  have  been  betrayed  by  those 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  267 

who  were  in  their  own  pay  and  will  put  no  more  confidence 
in  any  of  the  twenty-five!  It  completely  disarranges 
their  organization,  here — compels  them  to  search  for  other 
tools  at  a  time  when  public  sentiment  is  turning  against 
them!" 

As  the  plan  became  clear  to  Radeff ,  a  gleam  came  into 
his  partly  veiled  eyes.  There  were  features  about  it  which 
appealed  to  him  in  ways  that  had  not  occurred  to  the 
other  two.  He  came  of  a  more  primitive  race — a  people 
who  seldom  favored  diplomatic  methods  where  force 
appeared  to  be  the  simpler  one.  His  education,  however, 
enabled  him  thoroughly  to  appreciate  the  finesse  of  Von 
Pappenheim's  suggestion . 

"It  would  be  a  master-stroke,  Colonel!  I  think  Von 
Zimmerling  a  better  man  to  give  the  dinner  than  Von 
Lemholtz.  The  Imperial  German  Minister  would  prob- 
ably hesitate  about  giving  any  ^uch  an  affair  in  the  Lega- 
tion, though  he  would  undoubtedly  attend  it  with  the 
rest  of  us  in  some  other  place.  Von  Zimmerling  lives  in 
a  house  big  enough  for  such  an  entertainment,  and  it  is 
generally  understood  to  be  a  rendezvous  of  Teutonic 
politicals.  No  real  evidence,  of  course — but  the  people 
here  think  so,  and  that  couldn't  be  better  for  our  purpose. 
Now,  if  I  convince  Von  Zimmerling  that  some  of  his  Rou- 
manian tools  are  betraying  the  kaiser,  he'll  give  that  din- 
ner— and  make  a  point  of  seeing  that  everyone  invited 
gets  there,  too!  He  can  find  out  by  telephone  what 
night  most  of  them  are  free — get  others  to  shift  any  en- 
gagements which  might  interfere.  Every  minute  those 
senators  and  deputies  are  unmolested  is  dangerous  for  the 
Entente — I  think  I  will  go  to  Von  Zknmerling  at  once 


268  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

with  the  suggestion!    Doubtless  the  Fraulein  will  keep 
me  in  touch  with  you,  Colonel!" 

When  Radeff  had  left  the  house  Von  Pappenheim  re- 
mained for  a  while — discussing  various  political  devel- 
opments with  the  Fraulein.  As  it  began  to  grow  dark, 
she  went  into  the  front  drawing  room  for  a  moment  and 
glanced  into  the  street  from  behind  the  curtains.  He 
noticed  that  she  appeared  to  be  slightly  nervous. 
"What  is  it,  ma  belle?  Something  has  alarmed  you!" 
"Colonel,  have  you  any  reason  to  think  the  man  Karl 
Schumm  suspects  you?  He's  loitering  on  the  next  corner, 
as  if  waiting  for  someone — or  else  watching  some  house  in 
this  neighborhood!" 

"I  fancy  he  and  Von  Zimmerling  feel  entirely  satisfied 
as  to  my  real  status,  but  it's  possible  he  may  have  noticed 
me  coming  in  here  to  call  upon  you  and  is  watching  to  get 
some  idea  as  to  your  other  callers." 

"Suppose  he  doesn't  happen  to  see  you  come  out?" 
"He  would  be  likely  to  suspect  one  of  three  things:  an 
intrigue  with  you  which  might  be  entirely  personal;  a 
combination  of  forces,  enabling  us  to  act  more  effectively 
in  Bucharest;  or  foul  play,  in  the  event  that  you  prove 
to  be  really  of  the  Quai  d'  Orsay.  I've  not  been  seen  as 
Von  Pappenheim  since  Thursday  noon,  until  I  motored 
here  from  a  place  in  the  Strada  Lipscani,  three  hours  ago. 
It's  not  unlikely  that  the  WUhelmstrasse  people  have  sus- 
pected foul  play  from  my  disappearance,  and  are  trying  to 
locate  me.  I  would  almost  swear  that  Schumm  was  no- 
where in  sight  when  I  came  here.  Might  have  pumped 
the  chauffeur  of  that  car,  of  course — but  even  then,  he 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  269 

can't  be  sure  that  I  didn't  leave  this  house  before  he 
reached  here." 

"Were  you  intending  to  go  back  to  the  Grand  Hotel 
Boulevard  as  Von  Pappenheim — when  you  left  this 
house?" 

"I  think  not.  There  are  investigations  I  want  to  make 
before  that  dinner  is  arranged — couldn't  make  them  as 
the  Colonel." 

"  Then  you'd  better — —  (But  pardon  me — what  was  it 
you  were  going  to  ask?)  " 

"About  this  Major  Radeff?  Are  you  quite  sure  of  him? 
A  mistake  in  knowing  what  such  a  man  really  is  would 
mean  disaster  to  our  Governm'nts  and  annihilation  for  us, 
you  know!" 

"My  personal  knowledge  of  Radeff — who  is  really 
Boris  Kokenoff,  a  Muscovite — dates  back  eighteen  years. 
His  mother  was  murdered  by  Austrians  in  Galicia;  his 
fiancee  was  deceived  and  abandoned  in  Berlin  by  a  cap- 
tain of  the  Imperial  Guard.  Were  he  allowed  to  carry 
out  his  own  inclinations  with  any  Teutonic  prisoners  who 
were  in  his  charge,  I  wouldn't  care  to  be  in  their  positions. 
I  know  less  of  you,  my  dear  friend,  than  I  do  of  that  man." 

"Hmph!  I  gave  you  details,  a  few  hours  ago,  which 
only  one  man  on  earth  could  possibly  have  told.  No, 
ma  belle  I  You  know  the  Governm'nt  I  serve  even  better 
than  I  know  yours — and  I  believe  there  is  that  feeling  be- 
tween us  which  would  prevent  our  ever  betraying  each 
other,  even  though  I'm  a  married  man  very  much  in  love 
with  my  wife.  We  have  faced  death  together — twice. 
The  weight  of  a  hair  in  the  balance  would  have  destroyed 
us.  I  asked  you  about  Radeff  because  there  is  something 


270  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

sinister  in  his  manner.  What  you  say  about  his  mother 
and  fiancee  partly  explains  it — but  it  raises  the  question 
as  to  whether  he  will  control  his  natural  inclinations  in  a 
diplomatic  coup  as  delicate  as  the  one  we're  trying  to  pull 
off." 

"It  is  impossible  to  be  quite  certain  as  to  that,  but  I'll 
answer  for  his  loyalty.  Now,  if  you  wish  to  avoid  the 
man  Karl  Schumm,  out  there,  you'd  better  leave  the 
house  by  another  way.  In  my  garden,  at  the  rear,  there  is 
a  long  pergola — so  thickly  covered  with  vines  that  it  is 
impossible  to  recognize  any  one  passing  beneath  them. 
There  is  a  door  in  the  fence  at  which  the  pergola  ends.  On 
the  other  side  is  a  thick  double  hedge,  ten  feet  high,  with 
a  path  between.  It  ends  in  the  grounds  of  a  house  on  the 
Calea  Grivitei.  Any  time  you  wish  to  escape  observation, 
you  may  come  in  that  way;  the  other  house  belongs  to 
the  French  Government  and  is  occupied  by  a  caretaker 
and  his  wife,  who  are  paid  to  see  nothing." 

Next  morning  Trevor  received  a  hint  over  the  telephone 
that  the  dinner  at  Von  Zimmerling's  had  been  arranged 
for  Wednesday  evening — and  that,  owing  to  pressure  in 
the  right  quarters,  everyone  invited  would  assuredly  be 
present.  Discussing  the  affair  in  Effingham's  private 
dressing  room,  adjoining  his  editorial  office,  neither  the 
journalist  nor  Sir  Abdool  anticipated  any  miscarriage  of 
the  scheme  if  Major  Radeff  carried  out  the  few  details  en- 
trusted to  him.  Trevor — as  the  Colonel — had  seen  Von 
Zimmerkng  at  his  own  house  that  morning.  The  Wil- 
helmstrasse  man  had  taken  him  through  the  spacious  re- 
ception and  dining  rooms — explaining  how  he  proposed 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  271 

seating  his  guests  and  what  he  meant  to  provide  as  enter- 
tainment. 

"I  have  my  doubts,"  he  said,  "as  to  whether  Radeff  can 
really  prove  what  he  claims  against  those  men  who  have 
been  in  our  pay,  because  we  have  watched  them  too  closely 
and  paid  them  too  liberally — far  larger  amounts  than  we 
ever  dreamed  of  paying  our  tools  in  France  and  England. 
Bucharest  is  noted  for  the  frightfully  high  play  which  is 
customary  at  all  the  clubs.  When  a  man  frequently 
gambles  away  a  hundred  thousand  lei  in  a  single  night,  he 
isn't  tempted  by  a  paltry  twenty  thousand  marks — es- 
pecially if  he  is  very  prominent  in  public  life.  But — we 
shall  see!  If  Radeff  proves  his  charge,  we  shall  have  to 
begin  all  over  again  in  Roumania — because  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  trust  a  single  one  of  the  twenty-six  politicians 
we  have  already  bought!" 

As  the  evening  approached,  Lord  Trevor's  mind  was 
constantly  prodded  by  that  sixth  sense  which  had  so  fre- 
quently warned  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  un- 
expected. He  felt,  intuitively,  that  something  not  on 
the  cards  would  happen;  yet,  consider  the  scheme  as  he 
might,  from  every  angle  he  could  find  no  point  upon  which 
to  hang  a  definite  suspicion.  That  he  and  Sir  Abdool  were 
under  more  or  less  espionage  he  accepted  as  part  of  the 
game — and  took  his  measures  accordingly.  He  knew 
that  the  more  elusive  he  proved  to  be,  the  more  closely 
the  espionage  would  be  drawn,  but  was  not  aware  that 
communications  from  Madame  Liechtenstein  and  the 
Russian  diva,  in  Sofia,  had  established  him  even  more 
securely  as  a  Wilhelmstrasse  man.  Being  positive  that 
he  was  really  an  agent  of  the  Entente,  they  were  further- 


THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ing  his  activities  in  every  way  they  could.  It  was  a  game 
of  counter-intrigue,  with  no  individual  entirely  certain  as 
to  the  real  status  of  any  other,  but  assuming  certain  prob- 
abilities because  there  was  no  other  way  of  reaching  a 
working  basis. 

By  seven  o'clock  on  Wednesday  evening  all  of  the  in- 
vited guests  had  assembled  at  Von  Zimmerling's  house. 
The  majority  of  them  had  no  suspicion  of  ulterior  mo- 
tives behind  the  invitation — supposing  it  to  be  merely 
one  of  those  occasional  entertainments  for  which  he  had 
acquired  a  reputation  in  Bucharest.  There  was,  natur- 
ally, an  assumption  that  the  war  and  Roumanian  poli- 
tics would  be  touched  upon  during  the  evening,  because 
it  was  impossible  for  any  function  to  escape  those  sub- 
jects under  the  circumstances.  But  even  the  six  traitor 
senators  hadn't  the  faintest  idea  that  they  were  suspected 
of  taking  German  money  or  other  substantial  consider- 
ations. (There  had  been  considerable  transferring  of 
desirable  real  estate  also.) 

Von  Zimmerling's  chef  was  a  Hungarian  from  Budapest; 
the  meal,  a  gastronomic  triumph  thoroughly  appreciated 
by  the  guests.  Just  before  coffee  was  served  a  party  of 
Circassian  girls  came  into  the  room  through  a  rear  door 
and  performed  an  Oriental  nautch  that  left  very  little  to 
the  imagination.  Then  a  premiere  from  the  National 
Theatre  appeared  in  a  black  chiffon  ballet-costume — • 
giving  a  dance,  upon  one  end  of  the  long  table,  which  any 
lover  of  the  terpsichorean  art  would  have  gone  miles  to 
see. 

During  the  meal  Lord  Trevor  (as  Colonel  von  Pappen- 
heim)  had  been  watching — waiting — for  the  startlingly  un- 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  273 

expected.  As  the  dinner  progressed,  the  situation  grew 
more  tense  for  him.  He  was  as  certain  that  something 
would  happen — entirely  outside  of  the  prearranged  plan 
— as  he  was  of  Von  Zimmerling's  taste  in  wines,  and  was 
keyed  up  to  a  nerve-wrecking  pitch  with  the  determina- 
tion that  it  must  be  turned  to  the  advantage  of  the  Entente 
if  he  could  only  think  quickly  enough  after  it  happened. 

The  coffee  appeared — accompanied  by  Havanas  that 
one  would  scarcely  have  expected  in  a  Balkan  capital. 
Trevor  had  been  watching  two  of  the  waiters  so  closely 
that  he  knew  just  when  they  must  have  shoved  the  ten- 
thousand-rouble  notes  into  the  inside  coat  pockets  of  Sena- 
tors Lacoresco,  Vascelor,  Frundei,  Dudesti,  Cantemir, 
and  Revoloff.  These  gentlemen  were  representatives  of 
the  oldest  families  in  Roumania — very  prominent  so- 
cially and  politically — universally  respected.  At  the  mo- 
ment they  were  filled  to  repletion  with  an  excellent  dinner 
and  numerous  glasses  of  wine — so  that,  as  the  waiters 
bent  over  them  to  remove  articles  from  the  table,  to  pour 
their  coffee  or  wine,  they  were  very  far  from  being  suf- 
ficiently alert  to  notice  a  hand  inside  the  lapels  of  their 
coats  as  a  waiter  leaned  against  them  in  reaching  across 
their  shoulders. 

As  the  guests  lighted  cigars  and  commenced  to  sip  their 
coffee,  there  was  absolutely  nothing  to  suggest  what  was 
coming.  Then — the  thing  happened!  Trevor  saw  La- 
coresco suddenly  stiffen  in  his  chair,  start  to  rise — and 
sag  back,  an  inert,  lifeless  mass  of  clay.  The  other  five 
were  similarly  affected  inside  of  two  minutes.  Laco- 
resco had  been  sitting  near  the  head  of  the  table,  on  Von 
Zimmerling's  right — and  for  a  moment  the  German  sup- 


274  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

posed  his  seizure  to  be  a  stroke  of  apoplexy.  When  he 
noticed  the  other  five,  his  face  expressed  a  puzzled  con- 
sternation. This  was  far  more  than  he  had  bargained 
for;  he  couldn't  understand  it  in  the  least — couldn't 
get  his  wits  to  work  in  the  attempt  to  fathom  Radeff's 
purpose,  if  he  were  really  behind  such  a  monstrous  act. 

Trevor  muttered  an  emphatic  "Damnation!"  under  his 
breath.  ("Oh,  the  fool!  The  utterly  stupid  fool! 
Spilled  the  beans,  after  all!")  His  Lordship's  brain  was 
flashing  back  and  forth  like  forked  lightning  in  a  desperate 
search  for  something  which  might  turn  the  catastrophe  to 
advantage — and  a  sudden  blaze  of  inspiration  suggested 
a  daring  way  to  make  the  whole  affair  a  thousand  times 
more  effective  than  had  been  at  first  considered  possible. 

Rising  from  his  chair  in  a  manner  ominously  calm,  he 
glanced  slowly  from  one  horrified  face  to  another,  around 
the  table.  In  spite  of  his  black  dinner-coat  and  absence 
of  military  trappings,  he  was  the  cold-blooded  German 
officer  in  every  line  of  his  face  and  figure — the  machine 
which  executes  the  orders  of  higher  authority  regardless 
of  all  human  scruples. 

"Gentlemen,  His  Imperial  Majesty  the  kaiser  has  a 
long  arm!  He  exacts  full  punishment  for  treachery 
wherever  it  is  found!  These  six  dead  men  were  in  the 
employ  of  the  Imperial  German  Government,  to  further 
its  interests  in  Roumania.  More  than  a  million  and  a  half 
lei  have  been  paid  them  for  their  influence  in  the  Rouman- 
ian parliament,  in  our  favor.  But  they  thought  they 
could  play  with  Germany — serve  two  masters.  Each 
one  of  them — and  eighteen  others,  who  will  assuredly 
pay  the  penalty  for  their  treachery — has  attempted  to 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  275 

sell  not  only  Germany  but  their  own  country  to  Russia! 
The  proof  will  be  found  upon  them  at  this  moment — for 
they  received  payments  from  Russia  not  half  an  hour 
before  they  entered  this  house.  Major  Radeff!  Will 
you  search  the  bodies  and  produce  the  proof!" 

There  was  a  deathly  silence  as  Radeff — his  face  chalky 
white — produced,  from  one  pocket  after  another,  Russian 
bank-notes  of  large  denominations.  Von  Pappenheim 
had  beaten  his  carefully  arranged  plans  by  a  matter  of 
seconds — and  it  streaked  through  his  mind  that  every 
German,  Austrian,  or  Bulgarian  in  that  room  would  es- 
cape from  Bucharest  by  a  hair  if  he  were  lucky  enough 
to  get  out  at  all.  Again  Trevor  spoke.  There  was  an  omi- 
nous menace  in  his  final  remarks. 

"One  regrets  that  so  pleasant  an  evening  must  have  so 
tragic  an  ending — but  this  execution  had  to  be  carried 
out!  It  was  necessary  to  demonstrate  that  our  Govern- 
ment will  tolerate  neither  opposition  nor  treachery !  You 
will  all  go  to  your  own  homes  now.  Within  an  hour 
these  bodies  will  be  sent  to  an  undertaking  establishment, 
where  their  relatives  may  claim  them." 

The  loyal  Roumanians  and  other  guests  were  stunned. 
In  silence  they  took  up  then*  hats  and  coats  in  the  hall, 
and  went  out.  As  Sir  Abdool  walked  along  the  now 
deserted  streets  with  Effingham,  the  editor  drew  a  long 
breath  of  gasping  amazement. 

"My  God!  That  was  the  most  stupendous  thing  I 
ever  saw  done  in  the  diplomatic  service!  Somehow,  it 
hadn't  occurred  to  me  that  one  of  our  Downing  Street  men 
would  descend  to  assassination — cyanide  poisoning,  at 
that!  It's  not  done,  you  know!  Who  Von  Pappenheim 


276  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

really  is  I've  not  the  faintest  idea  but  I  had  supposed 
him  one  of  the  big  men  in  our  service." 

"  The  greatest  one  of  all,  Effingham !  You'd  never  recog- 
nize the  man  from  what  you've  seen  of  him,  here.  He 
is  our  famous  Diplomatic  Free  Lance — and  what  he  has 
just  done  in  that  house  is,  I  think,  the  most  amazing  coup 
of  his  entire  career!  Radeff  was  the  poisoner — not  Von 
Pappenheim!  The  Colonel  has  been  suspicious  of  that 
man  ever  since  this  affair  was  suggested  to  him.  You 
know  all  the  details  of  the  original  plan — which  must 
have  been  effective  as  far  as  those  senators  were  concerned. 
But  Radeff,  with  his  insane  hatred  of  all  Germans,  went 
far  beyond  his  instructions — or  anything  we  really  dreamed 
he'd  do.  When  the  Colonel  saw  these  men  dying  in  their 
chairs  he  realized  the  whole  catastrophe — and  his  mar- 
velous brain  saw  the  only  way  out.  The  cardinal  princi- 
ple with  Germany,  in  this  war,  has  been  a  fixed  belief  in 
frightfulness,  terrorism,  intimidation.  Nothing  could  be 
more  essentially  German  than  what  they  consider  the 
just  execution  of  those  men  for  treachery — not  to  their 
own  country,  but  to  the  German  Empire!  The  insolence 
of  such  an  idea,  from  the  Roumanian  viewpoint,  wouldn't 
occur  to  them. 

"Von  Zimmerling  and  Von  Lemholtz  are  undoubtedly 
admiring  the  Colonel  beyond  measure,  at  this  moment, 
for  what  they  consider  his  sublime  nerve  in  openly  assum- 
ing the  responsibility  for  such  a  killing.  They  believe — 
honestly  believe — that  it  will  have  the  effect  of  so  intimi- 
dating Roumanian  politicians  that  none  of  them  will 
dare  have  any  dealings  with  Russia,  or  support  any  move- 
ment to  intervene  on  the  side  of  th«  Entente. 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  COUP  277 

"But  if  they  knew  the  Roumanian  character  better, 
they  might  suspect  the  storm  of  indignation  this  act  will 
arouse — the  overwhelming  sentiment  against  Teutonic 
influence.  It  will  be  said  by  every  newspaper  in  the 
city  that  the  finding  of  those  Russian  notes  upon  the 
bodies  was  a  plant.  Those  waiters  will  be  arrested — and 
forced  to  confess!  Those  dead  men  were  altogether  too 
prominent  for  their  fellow  citizens  really  to  believe  the 
charges  against  them.  And  those  who  are  known  to  be  of 
Teutonic  nationality  or  affiliations  had  better  get  out  of 
Bucharest  while  they  can!  This  settles  the  question  of 
Roumania's  declaring  war — on  Germany — not  the 
Entente  I  But — I  say,  old  chap!  You  and  the  Colonel 
are  in  a  dev'lish  dangerous  position  at  this  moment. 
What?" 

"You'll  never  see  Colonel  von  Pappenheim  again  in 
this  country.  How  we  two  are  going  to  get  out  is  a  rather 
serious  problem.  But  the  man  whom  you  knew  as  Doktor 
Liebknecht  and  Von  Pappenheim  may  dine  with  you,  six 
months  from  now,  as — let  us  say — a  general  in  the  French 
army — an  Italian  statesman — a  Russian  count!  Who 
knows?" 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    SHIFTING    MINISTRIES    AND    THE    GREEN    CIBCLE 

A  FEW  weeks  after  the  startling  affair  in  Roumania. 
the  winter  loan-exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
for  the  War  Fund,  had  packed  the  salons  of  Bur- 
lington House  with  the  cream  of  British  aristocracy  on 
the  evening  of  the  private  view,  in  spite  of  a  cold   and 
steady  drizzle  which  had  been  falling  all  the  afternoon; 
and  those  who  were  leaving  early  found  themselves  ma- 
rooned by  a  dense  yellow  fog  which  had  succeeded  the 
rain.     Occasionally  a  figure  blessed  with  the  topographic 
sense  detached  itself  from  the  waiting  crowd  under  the 
portico  and  ventured  along  the  Piccadilly  sidewalk  through 
the  murk,  or  cut  through  Burlington  Arcade  into  Old 
,  Bond  Street,  where  the  sidewalk  was  narrower. 

One  of  these  ventured  out  through  the  entrance-court 
in  the  wake  of  a  tall  man  in  a  magnificent  sable-lined  top- 
coat who,  with  amazing  sureness,  located  a  gray 
landaulet  at  the  kerb.  Now,  students  of  human  nature 
get  a  line  on  the  nice  distinctions  in  a  man's  character 
by  the  way  he  addresses  servants  or  assumed  inferiors. 
In  this  case,  the  tall  man's  tone  was  as  courteous  as  if 
he  had  been  addressing  one  of  his  own  family — and  that 
of  his  chauffeur  was  tinged  with  something  deeper  than 
a  feeling  of  loyal  servitude. 

"Ah!     Here  you  are,  Sabub!     I  fancied  you'd  manage 

£78 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  279 

the  Bobbies  somehow  an'  stick  pretty  close  to  the  spot. 
Er — how  about  gettin'  on?  Could  you  make  it,  d'ye 
suppose?" 

"Aie,  Thakur  Bahadur,  it  may  be  done  by  one  who 
hath  a  keen  scent,  and  ears  that  catch  the  whisper  of  feet 
upon  the  stones.  'Tis  but  the  feeling  one's  way  along 
the  kerbs  of  Old  Bond  Street  and  of  Grosvenor  Square." 

The  shorter  man  who  had  followed  through  the  outer 
court  started,  slightly,  at  the  sound  of  the  other's  voice, 
That  of  the  chauffeur  was  new  to  him,  but  so  unmistak- 
ably Oriental  as  to  identify  his  employer.  There  was  but 
one  English  peer  who  maintained  a  household  of  high-caste 
Afghans.  For  an  instant  the  stranger  hesitated  within  two 
feet  of  His  Lordship,  debating  whether  to  speak  or  not. 
Then,  with  a  shrug  of  diffidence,  he  was  turning  away 
when  a  gust  of  wind  thinned  the  fog  until  his  face  was  dimly 
revealed  by  the  motor-lamps.  His  Lordship  saw  it — 
hesitated  until  sure  of  the  other's  identity — then  sprang 
forward  and  grasped  his  arm. 

"I  say!  Jimmy  Grantham!  My  word,  old  chap, 
this  is  a  bit  of  luck — what?  One  hears  of  you  occasion- 
ally, don't  you  know — but  you're  like  an  old  fox,  stickin' 
close  to  his  hole.  Seems  years  between  the  times  you 
come  out  into  the  open!  Eh?" 

"Why — it's — it's  very  kind  of  Your  Lordship  to  re- 
member me,  I'm  sure " 

"Cut  that,  Jimmy — cut  it,  d'ye  hear!  You've  no  ex- 
cuse for  takin'  that  tone  with  me,  an'  you  know  it !  Now, 
where  were  you  goin'?  To  your  diggin's — or  around  to 
the  laboratory  in  the  Royal  Institution?  Eh?" 

Granthana's  face  expressed  intense  surprise  at  this  evi- 


280  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

dent  knowledge  of  his  activities  upon  the  part  of  the 
most  popular  and  the  third  wealthiest  peer  in  the  British 
Empire. 

"Your  Lordship  has  heard,  then,  of  my  experimenting — 
around  at  the  'Institution I'  Ah — yes — you  might  have 
run  across  one  of  the  old  crowd  who'd  happened  to  see  me 
there " 

"Faith — it's  a  bit  more  than  that,  Jimmy.  The  man 
who  isolated  the  active  principle  in  cyanocin  cawn't  ex- 
pect to  be  entirely  overlooked  by  the  scientists,  you 
know!  Sir  Robert  Forby  told  me  what  you'd  been  at, 
down  in  Manchester — an'  it  struck  us  that  the  lab'  in  the 
Royal  Institution  would  be  splendidly  equipped  for  such 
work.  We're  both  on  the  Board,  you  know." 

"Then — I  really  owe  the  professorship  to  you — 

"On  the  contr'ry!  To  nothin'  but  your  own  good 
head-piece,  old  chap!  The  'Institution'  is  fortunate  in 
gettin'  brains  of  your  sort — always  lookin'  about  for  'em. 
Er — if  you  are  headed  that  way,  take  me  along  an'  ex- 
plain some  of  the  things  you've  been  diggin'  at.  I've  an 
hour  or  two.  Were  it  not  for  the  mass  of  work  piled  up- 
on one  by  this  cursed  war,  I'd  have  looked  you  up  months 
ago." 

"Aye — between  your  naval  service  as  Rear  Admiral, 
and  the  startling  things  one  hears  of  your  doing  in  the  Av- 
iation Corps,  I  should  imagine  you'd  little  time  even  for 
the  affairs  of  your  own  vast  properties,  Trevor.  If  you 
really  care  about  spending  an  hour  with  me — and  I  thor- 
oughly appreciate  what  that  means  from  a  man  in  your 
position — suppose  we  step  up  to  my  diggings  in  the  Al- 
bany, yonder.  They're  a  good  cut  above  my  old  lodgings 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  281 

in  Manchester — thanks  to  the  liberal  salary  attached  to 
that  Professorship " 

"Hmph!  When  the  British  Governm'nt  employs  a 
scientist  to  work  out  chemical  formulae  which  may  help  us 
to  win  the  war,  at  least  it  should  pay  enough  to  make  him 
physically  comfortable!  I  suppose  you  fancy  it  safer 
not  to  show  me  things  at  the  lab'  which  might  leak  out, 
and  get  about — eh?" 

"Quite  the  contrary,  Your  Lordship!  (Eh?  Oh, 
well — if  you  insist!  It's  very  decent  of  you,  Trevor; 
I'm  really  not  in  your  class  at  all,  you  know.  Never  was, 
for  that  matter.)  What  I  was  getting  at  was  this:  I 
leave  nothing  around  loose  at  the  laboratory  which  might 
amount  to  hints  that  some  experimenter  with  Ger- 
man sympathies  could  pick  up.  But  a  room  in  my  liv- 
ing quarters  is  fitted  up  with  enough  appliances  to  permit 
of  a  checking-up  process  whenever  I  come  to  the  final  stages 
of  an  experiment.  I  can  give  you  a  better  and  safer  idea, 
there,  of  what  I'm  doing  than  I  could  at  the  Institution. 
We  can  easily  feel  our  way  along  by  the  railing  outside 
The  Royal  Society." 

Instructing  his  faithful  Afghan  to  manoeuvre  the  car 
around  to  a  position  in  front  of  the  Albany  Court,  His 
Lordship  took  Grantham's  arm — and  they  had  little, 
difficulty  in  reaching  the  chemist's  chambers  upon  an 
upper  floor.  Grantham  explained  the  way  he  had  pro- 
tected, during  his  absence,  the  room  used  as  a  labora- 
tory, by  a  system  of  electric  wiring  that  would  have  given 
any  prowling  investigator  a  very  bad  quarter  of  an  hour. 
Locking  themselves  in,  they  discussed  various  experi- 
ments of  the  highest  value  to  science  and  the  War  Office. 


282  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Then  the  chemist  drew  his  old  friend's  attention  to  a  sticky 
brown  sediment  in  the  bulb  of  a  large  retort. 

"There's  one  of  the  most  curious  and  powerful  drug- 
principles  which  has  ever  come  within  my  knowledge,  Tre- 
vor. It's  merely  residuum,  as  you  see — precipitated  in 
the  distillation  of  certain  heavy  alcoholic  solutions.  I 
was  after  something  which  could  be  used  in  a  one-hun- 
dredth attenuation  to  build  up  a  synthetic  liquor  for  use 
as  a  general  substitute,  after  the  war.  Spirituous  liquors 
are  quite  certain  to  be  distilled  in  time  of  peace,  no  matter 
what  the  Government  restriction  may  be — or  smuggled. 
But  it  is  possible  to  produce  chemical  substitutes  with 
the  full  taste,  yet  with  ninety  per  cent,  less  of  the  normal  al- 
coholic effects.  This  is  being  tested  out  upon  three  young 
doctors  who  volunteered  to  assume  whatever  risk  there 
might  be — and  the  first  two  months  show  entire  success. 

"But  that  stuff  in  the  retort  is  a  vastly  different  matter. 
Taken  internally,  it  is  actively  toxic.  I  figure  the  fatal 
dose,  to  the  average  man,  as  something  like  ten  grains. 
But  the  fumes  of  the  stuff,  when  burning,  produce  a  very 
remarkable  effect — and  are  dangerous  to  about  the  same 
degree  as  successive  attacks  of  delirium-tremens — that  is, 
the  first  time  a  man  steeped  his  tongue  and  throat  in  the 
fumes  from  twenty-five  or  thirty  grains  of  the  stuff,  he 
would  get  the  same  after-effect  as  a  mild  case  of  D.  T. — 
recovering  in  perhaps  forty-eight  hours.  If  he  should 
breathe  the  fumes  again  within  a  week,  the  effect  would  be 
that  of  protracted  D.  T.  A  third  dose,  of  that  strength, 
within  a  fortnight  would  kill  any  man  whose  heart  wasn't 
entirely  sound.  These,  however,  are  the  effects  one  might 
naturally  infer  from  such  residuum 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  283 

"An'  you've  struck  somethin'  a  good  bit  more  interestm 
than  that— what?" 

"Precisely!  I've  had  no  chance  to  give  it  a  conclusive 
test,  as  yet — but  from  only  five  grains,  in  a  cigar  which 
I  gave  the  Jap  who  does  my  chambers  in  the  morning,  I'm 
willing  to  stake  my  scientific  reputation  upon  the  statement 
that  the  stuff  will  make  the  most  close-mouthed  man  you 
show  me  babble  everything  he  knows — exactly  as  the  aver- 
age weak-headed  man  will  do  after  soaking  down  a  lot  of 
whisky  for  several  days!  That  Jap  is  a  clam — polite, 
efficient,  minds  his  own  business,  never  the  least  word  of 
gossip  about  any  lodger  in  the  building  or  about  his  own 
affairs.  I  put  the  five  grains  into  a  cigar  which  I  left  on 
the  table  in  my  living  room — knowing  it  was  a  habit  of 
his  to  smoke  stray  ones  he  found  in  that  way — and  locked 
myself  into  the  laboratory. 

"  The  Jap  came  in  to  do  the  place — fancied  I  was  out — 
lighted  the  cigar  and  smoked  as  he  swept  the  carpet. 
Presently  he  sat  down  in  my  easy-chair,  crossed  his  legs, 
and  began  talking  to  himself.  I  came  in,  but  he  sat  there 
and  grinned — never  stirred  to  get  up — didn't  sense  the 
fact  that  he  was  doing  anything  irregular.  Then  he  talked 
a  blue  streak — English,  French,  Nipponese.  He  naively 
mentioned  appropriating  a  number  of  articles  from  va- 
rious chambers — told  pretty  serious  things  about  hah*  a 
dozen  men  and  women.  Trevor — that  close-mouthed 
Jap  mentally  turned  himself  inside-out!  Presently  he 
talked  slower — slowei — fell  into  a  stupor.  I  worked  for 
an  hour  to  bring  him  around — told  him  I'd  come  in  and 
found  him  unconscious  on  the  floor.  Apparently,  he 
hadn't  the  faintest  recollection  of  what  had  happened — 


284  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

because,  next  day,  I  knew  by  the  smell  that  he'd  been 
smoking  a  harmless  cigar  which  I'd  purposely  left  for 
him." 

"H-m-m — I  s'pose  you'd  get  pretty  much  the  same  re- 
siduum as  that  from  a  distillation  of  almost  any  alcoholic 
liquors — not?  " 

"That  occurred  to  me,  when  I  found  what  the  stuff 
would  do.  Tried  a  dozen  liquors  in  different  combina- 
tions— but  obtained  nothing  approaching  that  residuum. 
You  see,  I  was  using  a  very  unusual  combination  of  alco- 
holic solutions — not  liquors  in  the  commercial  sense." 

"Er — would  there  be  any  diffic'lty  in  gettin'  that  exact 
combination  again?" 

"Not  for  me — because  I  keep  a  sort  of  blind  key  to 
everything  I  work  out — in  symbols.  But  another  chem- 
ist might  not  hit  it  in  a  hundred  thousand  times." 

"About  how  much  of  it  have  you,  there?  " 

"Oh — roughly — possibly  eight  hundred  grains." 

"Jimmy,  the  next  time  you  make  a  really  scientific 
test  of  that  stuff,  I  wish  you'd  do  it  under  my  direction — 
after  I've  made  certain  arrangements,  don't  you  know! 
Er — I  say,  old  chap — we  used  to  be  fast  pals  in  the  Mad- 
ras days — I  fawncy  you'd  do  anything  in  reason  for  me — 
what?" 

"You're  jolly  well  sure  of  that  without  asking,  Trevor! 
Why,  man,  it  seems  I  owe  even  this  professorship  to  you ! 
Oh,  yes,  I  do — it  was  your  suggestion  to  the  Board  that 
got  me  down  here!  What  is  it  you  want  done?" 

"Er — would  you  entertain  a  proposition  to  sell  me  the 
secret  of  that  stuff,  outright?  For  example — I'm  to  have 
what's  in  that  retort,  an'  you're  never  to  distill  any  more 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  285 

of  it  except  as  I  order.  Nobody  else  to  have  a  grain  of 
it!  You  name  your  own  price,  of  course." 

"How  would  you  want  to  use  it,  Trevor?  I'd  have  to 
know  all  about  that  before  I  considered " 

"Oh,  I'm  no  unscrupulous  criminal!  My  reputation 
is  pretty  well  known  all  over  the  world.  I  want  that 
stuff  to  use  in  this  war — in  the  int'rests  of  the  British  an' 
French  Governm'nts.  An'  I'll  give  you  fifty  thousand 
pounds  for  absolute  control  of  it — memoranda  of  the  for- 
mula to  be  sealed  and  filed  in  my  underground  vaults  at 
Trevor  Hall  in  South  Devon." 

"That's  about  all  you  need  to  say,  Trevor!  Such  a 
sum  will  make  me  independent  for  life — with  leisure  to 
carry  out  experiments  in  lines  which  particularly  appeal 
to  me.  And  I  trust  you  more  than  any  man  I've  ever 
known.  Want  this  residuum  now?  I'll  scrape  it  out  of 
the  retort  and  put  it  in  a  glass  jar  for  you." 

From  the  Albany,  His  Lordship  was  driven  through  the 
fog  by  his  Afghan  chauffeur  to  Park  Lane,  where  nearly 
all  of  the  Cabinet  and  a  few  other  statesmen  had  been 
gathering,  during  the  past  hour,  in  the  big  library  on  the 
ground  floor.  Large  platters  of  cakes  and  sandwiches  had 
been  placed  upon  one  end  of  the  massive  centre  table — 
under  which  six  floor-plugs  connected  as  many  telephones 
with  trunk-wires  leading  from  the  house  switchboard,  in 
a  vault  forty  feet  below  the  garden  level — and  a  monster 
samovar  of  polished  brass  filled  the  room  with  a  pungent 
aroma  of  Java  coffee.  Apparently  it  was  to  be  an  all-night 
conference.  The  Asquith  ministry  had  fallen,  two  days 
before — and  the  "little  Welshman"  bad  been  laboring 


286  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

almost  incessantly,  with  the  other  men  scattered  about 
the  room,  to  form  a  new  War  Government.  Every  face 
bore  traces  of  the  thirty  months'  strain,  particularly  that 
of  Sir  Edward  Wray — who  had  been  England's  Foreign 
Secretary  for  eleven  strenuous  years — and  the  Premier 
himself,  huddled  down  in  a  big  chair  by  the  Dutch  fire- 
place— shaken,  at  times,  by  the  hacking  cough  which  had 
been  tormenting  him  for  the  past  week.  He  was  almost  at 
the  limit  of  his  endurance. 

Dyvnaint's  mansion  in  Park  Lane  had  been  selected 
for  the  conference  because  of  the  absolute  privacy  offered 
by  its  big  Jacobean  library — a  room  thirty  by  forty,  with 
a  coved  ceiling  fifteen  feet  above  the  black  oak  floor. 

As  Trevor  came  into  it,  one  of  the  statesmen  was  mak- 
ing a  formal  motion  to  appoint  a  chairman  of  the  confer- 
ence— but  the  Earl  stopped  him  with  a  protesting  hand. 

"Gentlemen — when  business  men  get  together  for  a 
conference  at  which  time  is  an  important  consideration, 
they  dispense  with  all  formality  and  accomplish  more 
in  three  hours  than  any  parliamentary  debate  has  ever 
done  in  a  week!  We're  here  upon  the  most  urgent  sort 
of  business — time  is  the  first  consideration.  It  is  under- 
stood by  all  of  us  that  His  Majesty  has  asked  our  friend 
over  there  by  the  fireplace  to  form  a  new  Ministry;  sup- 
pose we  hear  his  preliminary  ideas  upon  the  subject?" 
(The  former  War  Minister  straightened  up  a  little  in  his 
chair  and  glanced  around  the  circle  with  eyes  which  fairly 
burned.) 

"Thank  you,  Trevor!  England's  greatest  need  at  this 
moment  is  for  men  able  and  willing  to  cut  the  whole  bale 
of  red-tape  with  one  slash  of  the  shears !  Now,  gentlemen , 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  287 

the  first  question  I  would  like  to  settle  definitely  is  that 
of  the  Foreign  Office.  I  fancy  we'd  all  like  to  have  His 
Lordship  retain  the  portfolio,  if  he  will  come  a  little  fur- 
ther toward  our  way  of  thinking."  (Sir  Edward  Wray 
had  received  his  peerage  a  few  weeks  before,  according  to 
precedent.  His  thin,  ascetic  face  bore  the  marks  of  phys- 
ical suffering,  as  he  sat  thinking  for  a  moment  before  re- 
plying. Finally,  he  glanced  around  at  them  with  a  faint 
smile.) 

"I  fully  appreciate  the  offer,  sir,  but  there  are  vari- 
ous reasons  why  I  should  decline.  I  am  in  poor  health — 
not  able  to  give  the  Department  all  it  demands.  I've 
held  the  portfolio  for  eleven  years — it  is  difficult  for  me 
to  see  matters  in  other  than  the  diplomatic  light.  For 
example — Greece!  After  the  revolution  of  1828-29, 
England,  France,  and  Russia  guaranteed  the  autonomy  of 
Greece  as  a  constitutional  kingdom — and  placed  Otto  of 
Bavaria  on  the  throne  in  '33.  The  Greeks  kicked  him  out 
in  '62 — and  we  put  George  of  Denmark  in  his  place.  In 
international  usage,  we  are  guardians — and  Greece  is  our 
ward.  If  we  obey  a  popular  demand  which  springs  from 
ignorance  of  the  situation — depose  Constantine,  and  seize 
the  country — every  neutral  nation  will  say  at  once  that  we 
are  treating  Greece  as  Germany  treated  Belgium — that 
the  Entente  is  no  better  than  Germany,  and  that  we  are  all 
a  parcel  of  cutthroats  together.  We  shall  lose  favor,  sym- 
pathy, and  support  m  the  very  quarters  where  we  need  the 
most.  It  will  lead  to  greater  restrictions  upon  our  pur- 
chases in  the  United  States.  I  am  aware  that  many  of 
you  consider  the  demands  of  the  war  situation  paramount 
to  every  other  feature,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  another 


288  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

jian  in  the  Foreign  Office  would  have  far  more  popular 
support.  So  I  have  tendered  my  resignation — as  final." 
(There  was  a  murmur  of  sympathy  and  approval;  none 
better  knew  than  the  statesmen  in  that  room  how  much 
England  owed  Sir  Edward  Wray  through  long  years  of 
stress  and  underhand  danger.  The  new  Premier  began 
at  once  to  outline  the  differences  in  viewpoint.) 

"My  Lord,  when  a  ward  rebels  against  the  authority 
of  his  guardian — defies  and  betrays  him — the  common 
law  upholds  the  guardian  and  compels  obedience.  Con- 
stantine  has  defied  the  Entente  and  tried  to  side  with  its 
enemies — in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  Sinn  Fein  reb- 
els in  Dublin — repudiating  his  written  pledges  to  Serbia 
— his  obligations  to  England,  France,  and  Russia. 
We've  been  handling  him  with  gloves  regardless  of  the 
danger  to  ourselves — just  because  we  are  civilized  nations 
desiring  the  respect  and  support  of  other  civilized  nations. 
As  a  consequence,  our  forbearance  has  cost  us  Serbia, 
Montenegro,  most  of  Albania,  the  Oriental  Railway,  and 
now  half  of  Roumania !  Sarrail  's  army  of  hah*  a  million  men 
has  been  kept  marking  time  for  a  year — useless,  because 
it  could  not  take  the  offensive  with  the  Greek  danger  in 
its  rear.  When  nations  are  fighting  for  their  very  ex- 
istence, there  comes  a  time  when  they  must  protect  them- 
selves regardless  of  any  opinion  their  actions  may  arouse 
in  other  nations  not  in  possession  of  all  the  facts!  I  think 
I  speak  for  everyone  present  when  I  say  that  I  regret  Your 
Lordship's  giving  up  the  portfolio  and  am  keenly  aware  of 
the  services  you've  rendered  England.  Balfour,  will 
you  take  the  Foreign  Office?  You  had  it  several  years 
ago  and  you  have  the  popular  confidence  to  a  marked  ex- 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  289 

tent.  You  accept?  Good!  Dyvnaint,  we  want  you 
for  the  Admiralty " 

"Deuced  kind  of  you,  sir — but  it  would  be  a  mistake!'* 

"Why  so?  Your  naval  and  aerial  exploits  are  known 
all  over  Europe!  It  will  prove  a  most  popular  appoint- 
ment!" 

"Possibly;  but  it  would  prevent  my  serving  England  in 
other  ways  known  to  three  or  four  of  these  gentlemen — 
serving  in  a  far  more  vital  way  than  I  could  as  First  Lord, 
There  are  dangers  which  never  appear  until  awfter  the 
catastrophe  happens,  don't  you  know — an'  I've  person- 
ally been  the  means  of  avertin'  so  many  of  'em  during  the 
past  fifteen  years  that  I  know  better  where  to  hunt  for 
them  than  almost  any  one  else  in  the  Governm'nt,  d'ye 
see?  While  I'm  mentioning  the  subject,  I  wish  to  say 
this:  A  request  from  me  for  the  instant  cooperation  of 
the  Foreign  Office,  the  Adm'r'lty,  the  Board  of  Trade,  or 
the  Home  Office  should  be  understood  to  mean  business 
when  I  make  it.  His  Majesty — Wray — Balfour — Curzon 
— will  all  tell  you  that  the  work  I've  been  doing  is  of  the 
very  first  importance  to  England.  I'm  spending  my  own 
fortune  like  water — risking  my  life  constantly — doing  it 
with  the  utmost  willingness  an'  pleasure.  But  I  must 
have  prompt  and  unlimited  support,  or  there'll  be  ca- 
tastrophes which '11  be  felt  in  our  farthermost  colonies." 
(The  Prime  Minister  frowned  slightly,  as  he  tried  to  stifle 
the  cough  which  shook  him.  This  sounded  rather  dicta- 
torial from  a  man  who  wouldn't  accept  a  portfolio.) 

"H-m-m;  suppose  we  consider  it  wiser,  for  what  seem 
good  reasons,  to  withhold  that  support  in  some  instances, 
My  Lord?  What  will  you  do — go  ahead  without  it?" 


290  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Undoubtedly.  An'  your  Ministry  won't  lawst  for- 
ty-eight hours!  That's  not  a  threat,  sir;  it's  a  statement 
of  £act.  You're  trying  to  form  a  business  Governm'nt 
here,  to-night — a  Governm'nt  whose  very  existence  is 
dependent  upon  efficiency.  I've  fceen  doing  things  for 
England  for  many  years,  an'  the  fact  that  you  never  heard 
of  'em  rawther  implies  that  I'm  not  much  of  a  talker. 
Were  you  to  antagonize  such  services  as  mine,  you'd  com- 
mit a  ruinously  fatal  blunder  right  at  the  start  of  your 
administration." 

"Er — would  Your  Lordship  mind  describing  those  ser- 
vices more  definitely — so  that  we  may  form  some  estimate 
of  their  value?" 

"Not  for  a  million  sterling!  Ask  His  Majesty,  if  you 
like;  or  Alfonzo  of  Spain — Nicholas  of  Russia — Poincare 
— Vittore  Emanuele.  They  '11  give  you  no  details — but 
they'll  suggest  rawther  plainly  that  it'll  be  advisable  to 
give  me  whatever  support  I  ask — unofficially.  Come, 
sir — we're  wasting  tune!  We'd  best  consider  this  point 
settled  an'  go  on  to  the  next  one!  I'd  suggest  Jellicoe  as 
First  Lord,  but  I  know  you're  prejudiced  in  favor  of  a 
civilian.  What's  the  matter  with  Carson,  here?  He's 
a  capital  organizer,  an'  immensely  popular." 

For  a  moment,  the  man  of  the  people  and  the  descendant 
of  the  Crusaders  looked  each  other  in  the  eye — apprais- 
ingly.  There  was  in  the  Earl  of  Dyvnaint  a  force — 
initiative,  and  a  mental  quickness  which  surprised  the 
Premier  considerably.  Here  was  an  English  peer — sup- 
posed to  be  encrusted  with  all  the  reserve,  the  courtesy, 
and  the  hide-bound  conservatism  of  his  class — handling  a 
situation  with  a  snap  and  an  apparent  consciousness  of 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  291 

reserve  power  not  to  be  ignored.  The  new  Prime  Minister 
recognized  a  force  which  must  be  invaluable  to  his  Min- 
istry— or  land  it  on  the  rocks  if  interfered  with.  He 
didn't  attempt  to  deceive  himself  for  more  than  a  few  mo- 
ments. This  courteous  gentleman — with  a  world- wide  rep- 
utation as  a  sport-loving  peer  having  no  head  for  State 
affairs — was  really  a  man  whose  power  and  influence 
seemed  a  bit  startling.  They  were  intangible.  It  spoke 
volumes  for  the  Minister's  real  statesmanship  that  he  was 
able  to  accept  Trevor  at  his  implied  valuation,  promising 
whatever  support  he  needed,  and  proceed  rapidly  with  the 
formation  of  his  Cabinet — which  was  practically  com- 
pleted before  sunrise. 

As  the  conference  broke  up,  Trevor  drew  Wray  and  Bal- 
four  aside — asking  them  what  they  knew  of  a  recently 
arrived  attache  of  the  Russian  Embassy  in  Belgrave 
Square,  Major  Stefen  Lupokovitch.  Wray  said  that  his 
information  went  no  further  than  the  man's  duly -presented 
credentials  on  file  in  the  Foreign  Office,  but  Mr.  Balfour 
was  of  the  impression  that  he  had  seen  the  man  be- 
fore. 

"He  is  older  than  he  appears,  Trevor.  I  had  the  Down- 
ing Street  portfolio  in  '78 — Lupokovitch  reminds  me  of  a 
man  who  was  mixed  up  in  some  Berlin  intrigue  at  that  time 
— in  fact,  I'd  almost  swear  to  him.  His  mother  was  the 
old  Grafin  von  Husstadt,  who  had  a  big  house  in  Charlot- 
tenburg.  Seems  to  me  I  recollect  an  intimacy  with 
Stuermer,  who  was  recently  the  Russian  premier." 

"Hmph!  That  rawther  bears  out  my  own  opinion  of 
the  fellow!  I  say,  Balfour!  I  fancy  I'll  try  a  bit  of  ex- 
periment to  see  if  I  can't  find  out  where  he  really  stands, 


292  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

don't  you  know.  You  can  help  me,  if  you  will.  I'll  tell 
the  chap,  at  St.  James's  Club,  that  I'm  giving  an  Amer- 
ican friend  a  card  to  him — Arthur  Trevelyan — fine  old 
estate  on  the  south  slope  of  Dartmoor.  Trevelyan  in- 
vites him  to  dine  with  you  an'  Lammerford — little  pri- 
vate dinner  at  the  Cecil  to  get  a  line  on  the  proper  men  to 
approach  for  the  purchase  of  American  motor-cars.  You 
fix  it  up  with  the  Premier  to  look  in  on  us,  casually,  at  a 
certain  time.  I've  an  idea  there  may  be  inducements 
which  '11  make  that  bounder  talk.  If  he  does,  we're  likely 
to  hear  something  of  interest,  I  fancy." 

Could  the  new  Premier  have  had  a  cinema  picture  of 
Earl  Trevor's  mental  processes,  there  never  would  have 
been  a  moment's  question  as  to  granting  him  the  fullest 
possible  Government  support  without  any  time-wasting 
request  for  details.  Concerning  the  attache  who  had  been 
accredited  to  the  Russian  Embassy  during  the  previous 
month,  His  Lordship  knew  absolutely  nothing  prejudicial 
— but  he  had  seen  him  dining,  one  evening,  at  one  of  the 
less  prominent  hotels,  with  a  Dublin  barrister  whose 
clients  were  intensely  anti-English  in  their  sympathies. 
There  had  been  nothing  of  record  against  the  barrister  him- 
self except  the  practice  which  seemed  to  seek  him  unasked. 
Balfour's  recollection  of  the  old  scandal  in  Berlin,  if  it 
really  concerned  the  same  man,  made  his  vague  suspicions 
stronger.  He  now  began  to  anticipate  developments  at 
the  proposed  dinner  which  had  seemed  mere  idle  specula- 
tion before. 

When  Major  Lupokovitch  learned  that  an  American  de- 
sired commercial  information  which  might  put  a  number 
of  fat  commissions  in  his  pocket,  there  was  no  trouble  in 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  293 

arranging  the  affair — and  after  the  five  met  at  the  Cecil 
(Grantham,  the  chemist,  being  also  of  the  party),  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  dinner  passed  very  pleasantly.  Mr. 
Trevelyan,  being  an  excellent  raconteur,  proved  a  most 
entertaining  host — and  was  ably  seconded  by  the  states- 
man and  Baron  Lammerford.  Lupokovitch  himself, 
though  naturally  taciturn  and  unusually  conservative 
for  a  Russian,  recalled  several  amusing  anecdotes  as  his 
contribution. 

As  the  coffee  and  cigars  appeared,  a  page  came  in  with  a 
message  that  someone  desired  to  speak  with  the  Foreign 
Secretary  for  a  moment — and  that  gentleman  presently 
brought  in  the  Premier  as  a  temporary  addition  to  the 
party. 

The  talk  had  drifted  around  to  the  Russian  demand  for 
American  motor-cars  and  the  proper  men  to  approach  in 
Petrograd.  Lupokovitch's  conservatism  was  now  quite 
evident.  He  mentioned  one  or  two  names — but  suggested 
that  Trevelyan  call  upon  him  a  few  days  later,  after  he'd 
had  time  to  cable  some  inquiries.  Upon  the  two  states- 
men, the  impression  he  produced  was  that  of  a  crafty  dip- 
lomat whom  nothing  could  surprise  into  saying  more  than 
he  intended — and  this  was  after  he  had  consumed  fully  a 
quart  of  wine. 

Noticing  that  his  first  cigar  had  burned  more  than  half 
its  length,  Trevelyan  drew  a  handsome  case  from  his  pock- 
et and  asked  the  Russian  to  try  one  of  his  own  special  im- 
portation. The  others  were  more  leisurely  smokers  than 
the  Major.  By  the  time  they  were  ready  for  a  second 
cigar,  nobody  noticed  that  the  black  morocco  case  which 
Trevelyan  handed  them  had  been  taken  from  another 


294  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

pocket.  All  of  them  commented  upon  the  unusually  rich 
flavor  of  the  tobacco — which  gave  Trevelyan  the  chance 
to  describe  for  several  moments  the  plantation  from  which 
it  came  and  the  care  with  which  the  cigars  were  especially 
made  for  him  in  Havana.  When  he  finished,  the  Major 
had  smoked  a  third  of  his  cigar.  He  was  apparently  re- 
laxing more  unguardedly  to  the  influence  of  the  dinner 
and  the  wine  he  had  taken. 

Presently  he  broke  into  the  talk  with  a  scandalous 
anecdote  concerning  his  immediate  chief — the  Russian 
Ambassador.  It  was  so  entirely  undiplomatic  that,  if 
the  Premier  hadn't  been  previously  warned,  he  must 
have  betrayed  surprise  by  his  facial  expression.  Trev- 
elyan matched  this  by  anecdotes  of  certain  English  states- 
men who  were  supposedly  recognizable,  though  he  men- 
tioned no  names.  And  the  Russian  came  back  with  a  re- 
mark about  German  intrigue  in  Petrograd. 

Knowing  that  extremes  were  probably  safe  enough  by 
this  time,  Trevelyan  carelessly  remarked: 

"I  suppose  the  old  Green  Circle  was  pretty  thoroughly 
wiped  out  by  General  Lipowski,  last  January — when  he 
was  acting  Chief  of  Police?" 

The  Major  laughed — loudly  and  sneeringly.  A  grow- 
ing excitement  was  evident  in  the  expression  of  his  eyes — 
in  his  gestures — the  tone  of  his  voice. 

"Serge  Lipowski  has  but  a  little  while  to  live,  mon  ami  I 
He  controls  the  Russian  secret  police,  to-day — he  is  the 
man  in  the  saddle.  Three  hundred  better  men  than 
he  are  rotting  in  the  mines  of  Siberia  since  that  be- 
trayal, nearly  a  year  ago.  But  there  were  fifty  whom  he 
didn't  get,  and  two  of  them  were  the  originators  of  the 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  295 

Green  Circle.  They've  not  been  idle  during  the  year. 
There  are  now  ten  in  the  inner  circle  which  works  out  the 
plans  and  gives  the  orders.  Under  them  is  the  outer  cir- 
cle— numbering  four  hundred  and  fifty — including  many 
in  the  Congress  of  Nobles,  which  is  the  oldest  and  most 
powerful  organization  in  all  Russia  and  which  has  just 
voted  to  continue  the  war  indefinitely.  We  have  our 
agents  in  their  most  secret  councils !  Outside  of  these  four 
hundred  and  sixty,  we  have  upward  of  five  thousand  sworn 
associates  who  will  either  carry  out  instructions  themselves 
or  look  the  other  way  when  certain  things  are  done  in  the 
departments  or  bureaus  for  which  they  are  responsible. 

"Just  at  present,  we've  met  with  a  slight  reverse  in  the 
removal  of  Stuermer  and  the  appointment  of  Trepoff. 
Stuermer  contrived  to  block  the  army  plans  and  muddle 
the  munition-supply  until  it  was  too  late  to  give  Roumania 
any  effective  assistance.  Just  now  Trepoff  is  hurrying, 
day  and  night,  to  hold  the  German  armies  down  there, 
and  force  them  back  before  they  dig  in  for  the  winter. 
But  Rasputin,  the  monk,  has  been  planning  with  the  Ger- 
man party  in  Petrograd  to  lay  a  trap  for  Trepoff  which 
must  force  his  resignation — and  then  put  in  an  even 
stronger  man  than  Stuermer  as  premier.  You  will  see !  In 
spite  of  anything  the  Duma  and  the  Moujiks  can  do,  we  'II 
beat  them  and  make  a  separate  peace  with  Germany  be- 
fore spring! 

"The  proposals  now  coming  from  Germany  to  the  En- 
tente apparently  give  Russia  very  much  the  worst  of  it 
— no  restoration  of  territory  or  other  compensation.  But 
it  is  well  understood  in  Petrograd  that  Germany  will  give 
us  the  whole  of  Roumania,  neutralize  the  Bosphorus  and 


296  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Dardanelles  so  that  we  have  an  unrestricted  outlet  there, 
and  guarantee  us  the  whole  of  Persia,  if  we  name  a  sepa- 
rate peace  and  desert  the  Entente.  Poland  is  to  be  granted 
autonomy  by  both  empires — but  with  as  many  Russian 
officials  in  the  government  as  Germans."  (Here  "Trev- 
elyan"  inquired:) 

"Who  are  the  men  in  Petrograd  with  whom  we  Irish 
in  Dublin  and  the  United  States  should  get  in  touch? 
We  are  in  position  to  render  you  considerable  assistance 
at  some  critical  moment,  you  know,  and  I  expect  to  be  in 
Petrograd  myself,  very  soon." 

"Capital,  my  friend!  Capital!  You  know  some  of  the 
Green  Circle  recognition-signs  and  passwords — yes?" 

"Oh,  I  know  how  to  lay  a  cigar  upon  a  table  and  slice 
off  the  end  with  my  pocket-knife — the  smallest  blade.  I 
know  how  to  cross  one  leg  over  the  other  when  I  am  seated, 
and  when  two  fingers  of  my  left  hand  are  crossed.  I 
know  when  to  say  Zdoroveh — Schahstieh — and  when  to  say 
Dlinneeh  Zhihzn,  instead." 

"Then  there  is  but  one  thing  more  which  you  must  do 
to  meet  those  who  will  cooperate  with  you  at  every  turn. 
You  will  obtain  letters  of  introduction  to  Count  Boris 
Gazonoff,  General  Ivan  Ossipovitch  or  Baron  Stellanovski. 
They  are  all  supposed  to  be  intensely  anti-German  in 
spite  of  the  Saxon  and  Prussian  intermarriages  in  their 
families,  and  any  one  from  outside  who  wishes  to  confer 
with  the  Green  Circle  must  be  given  further  introduc- 
tions through  them  or  fall  immediately  under  suspicion. 
When  quite  sure  that  you  are  'lone  with  eizer  of  zem,  you 
will  slowly  remove  left  glove — catch  by  tip'  of  two  long'st 
fingers — shlap  zhe  palm  of  right  ban'  wizh  it,  before  put- 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  297 

tin'  glove  in  lef  trouzhers  pocket.  Ha-ha-ha!  Simple 
'nough  thing — eh,  m'ami  ?  An'  yet — it — simple  'nough 
shing — an'  yet — it — wha'  was  it  I  w's  goin'  shay!  Ah! 
Shimple — shing — yet — been  loshing  too  much  sheep — • 
of  late!  Shimple  sing — an'  zyet — mph — mph!" 

Lupokovitch's  arms  rested  upon  the  table,  and  his  head 
now  dropped  forward  upon  them.  He  was  breathing 
heavily,  with  a  peculiar  gasp.  Trevelyan  came  around 
the  table  and  shook  the  unconscious  figure,  but  without 
rousing  it  in  the  least.  Then  he  turned  to  the  Prime  Min- 
ister, who  was  becoming  seriously  alarmed. 

"He'll  come  out  of  it  in  an  hour  or  so  without  remem- 
bering anything  thathappened — you  understand,  of  course, 
that  I  gave  him  a  drugged  cigar!  We'll  carry  him  into 
the  next  room  until  this  one  can  be  thoroughly  aired — I 
don't  care  to  risk  even  the  fumes  from  that  cigar  in  a  close 
room.  We'll  come  back  and  work  over  him  here — but  at 
the  last  moment,  I  fancy  we'd  better  let  him  come  out  of 
it  as  if  he'd  merely  dropped  asleep  while  talking  with  us." 

"You — er — fancy  any  reliance  is  to  be  placed  upon 
what  he  said,  Mr.  Trevelyan?  It's  rather  incredible,  you 
know!" 

"The  man  was  perfectly  unconscious  of  what  he  was 
saying,  sir — emptying  his  mind  of  all  he'd  been  keeping 
bottled  up  in  it  at  the  suggestion  conveyed  by  my  ques- 
tions, and  under  the  influence  of  a  very  powerful  drug. 
You  may  be  quite  certain  that  what  he  said  has  been  fill- 
ing his  mind  for  months.  I've  a  memorandum  of  the 
names  he  mentioned — and  I  think  I'd  better  leave  for  Pet- 
rograd  with  Earl  Trevor  and  Baron  Lammerford  as  early 
in  the  morning  as  the  Admiralty  can  give  us  one  of  tbe 


298  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

big  cruising  submarines.  That's  the  quickest  way  to  get 
there — some  risk,  going  through  the  Cattegat,  but  we 
must  chance  that!" 

"But — but — what  do  you  and  Dyvnaint  expect  to  ac- 
complish in  Petrograd,  Mr.  Trevelyan?  If  the  intrigue 
there  is  as  widespread  as  this  man  said,  what  can  three  of 
you  possibly  do?" 

"Something  along  the  line  of  what  His  Lordship  re- 
cently did  in  Roumania  and  Sweden,  sir!  Do  you  suppose 
his  Earldom  was  given  him  for  nothing!  Petrograd  is,  to- 
day, a  worse  hotbed  of  intrigue  than  Stamboul  was  in  the 
days  of  Hassan  Bey  and  Midhat  Pasha.  We've  been  con- 
gratulating ourselves  upon  the  prompt  and  emphatic  re- 
pudiation of  the  German  peace  proposals  by  the  Duma 
and  the  Congress  of  Nobles — but  we  do  not  dare  over- 
look the  fact  that  there  may  be  another  upheaval  there  to- 
morrow which  will  again  place  German  influence  upper- 
most. A  blow  must  be  struck  in  Roumania  and  the  Odessa 
region  by  the  Russian  army  before  it  is  too  late!  The 
men  in  England  best  fitted  to  cope  with  this  peculiar  sort 
of  problem  must  have  transportation,  funds,  Government 
backing,  the  very  instant  we  ask  for  it.  You're  something 
of  a  hustler  yourself,  sir — and  must  see  the  force  of  this ! " 

That  England's  new  Premier  did  see  it  was  shown  by  the 
hearty  cooperation  he  ever  afterward  gave  in  everything 
concerning  Lord  Trevor  and  his  unknown  activities.  But 
since  that  evening,  and  though  he  has  been  present  at  sev- 
eral dinners  where  Mr.  Arthur  Trevelyan  also  was  a  guest, 
he  has  never  smoked  another  cigar  given  him  by  the 
wealthy  American.  He  accepted  Trevelyan's  explanation 
of  how  he  had  substituted  the  duplicate  cigar  case — ad- 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  299 

mired  his  clever  sleight-of-hand — but  he  doesn't  like  to 
think  of  what  might  have  happened  had  the  American 
miscalculated  somewhere.  As  Trevelyan  walked  away 
from  the  Cecil  with  Grantham  that  night — the  two  states- 
men having  volunteered  to  drop  the  sleepy  and  un- 
suspicious Russian  in  Belgrave  Square — he  said: 

"I  hope  the  use  to  which  we  put  your  chemical  dis- 
covery meets  with  your  approval,  old  chap,  and  that  you 
don't  regret  selling  the  formula  to  His  Lordship?  He 
doped  those  cigars  and  gave  them  to  me,  so  the  secret  is 
known  to  nobody  except  you  two." 

"H-m-m;  this  demonstration,  to-night,  was  successful 
even  beyond  my  anticipations!  I've  been  a  student  of 
psychology  all  my  life.  That  Major  Lupokovitch  had  his 
tongue  about  as  perfectly  under  control  as  it  is  possible 
for  any  human  being  to  have  it.  If  the  stuff  will  loosen 
up  a  mind  like  that,  there's  practically  nothing  in  that 
line  it  won't  do!  It's  even  more  dangerous  than  I 
supposed !  You  and  His  Lordship  intend  using  it  in  Pet- 
rograd,  I  infer?  H-m-m — if  it  proves  as  valuable  to  the 
British  Government  there  as  it  did  this  evening,  I'm  more 
than  satisfied  to  have  the  formula  in  Trevor's  hands.  I've 
known  him  a  good  many  years — he's  a  man  of  honor.  But 
I  '11  tell  you  one  thing — if  you  happen  to  be  interrupted  by 
some  outsider  while  having  a  private  conference  with  a 
Russian  who  is  under  the  influence  of  that  residuum  at  the 
moment,  I  wouldn't  give  a  sixpence  for  your  lives!  The 
man  must  have  time  to  recover  in  a  natural  manner — or 
else  he's  bound  to  suspect  that  he's  been  drugged.  From 
my  observations,  so  far,  the  subject  regains  consciousness 
without  a  trace  of  recollection — but  human  brains  aren't 


300  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

all  alike.  You  may  strike  someone  who  will  retain  a 
vague  impression  of  having  been  tampered  with.  How- 
ever— I'm  beginning  to  suspect  that  you  and  His  Lordship 
play  a  far  bigger,  more  deadly  game,  than  I'd  ever  dreamed. 
Risks  that  would  bother  me  a  lot  are  all  in  the  cards  to 
you.  I've  a  pretty  close  mouth — you  need  have  no  fear 
of  indiscretion  upon  my  part." 

Now,  as  everyone  knows — if  they  follow  the  wm-news 
closely — the  Cattegat  and  all  the  southern  passages  be- 
tween the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic  are  so  thickly  sown 
with  mines  as  to  shut  off  marine  intercourse  to  every  na- 
tion except  Germany  and  Sweden.  The  passage  between 
the  Danish  Islands,  known  as  the  Grosserbelt,  with  its 
narrow  opening,  the  Gron-Sund,  was  mined  by  Denmark 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  Ore-Sund,  between  Den- 
mark and  the  Swedish  coast,  was  recently  mined  by  Swe- 
den in  its  narrowest  part — though  the  Entente  and  the 
neutral  nations  protested  against  this — and  Germany  has 
filled  the  southern  opening  of  the  Sund  with  floating  mines 
that  frequently  go  adrift  with  as  much  danger  to  German 
shipping  as  to  any  other.  So  the  Baltic  is  now  supposed 
to  be  closed  to  outside  navigation.  In  spite  of  this,  how- 
ever, Swedish  and  Danish  pilots  do  occasionally  take  a 
cargo-boat  safely  through  the  mine-fields — for  a  large 
consideration.  And  English  submarines  six  or  eight  fath- 
oms under  the  surface  easily  slip  through  by  going  so 
slowly  that  they  are  able  to  see  and  avoid  the  anchor- 
chains  or  wire  cables  which  hold  the  mines  in  place. 

About  noon  of  the  day  following  the  dinner-party  at 
the  Cecil  a  big  cruising  submarine  left  Portsmouth  with 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  301 

the  Earl  of  Dyvnaint,  Baron  Lammerford,  and  Sir  Abdool 
Mohammed  Khan  aboard.  With  one  or  two  narrow  es- 
capes in  going  through  the  mine-fields,  it  made  a  quick 
passage  into  the  Baltic,  anchoring  in  open  water  just  off 
the  island  fortress  of  Kronstadt,  from  where  the  three  mo- 
tored into  Petrograd  over  the  ice. 

Before  going  to  the  British  Embassy  on  the  Quai  du 
Palais,  they  called  upon  M.  Pokrovski  at  the  Imperial  For- 
eign Office  and  presented  their  special-mission  credentials 
which  had  been  hastily  prepared  for  them  by  Secretary 
Balfour  in  Downing  Street.  As  the  only  place  in  Petro- 
grad where  they  could  be  reasonably  sure  of  escaping  po- 
lice surveillance  was  their  own  Embassy,  they  took  up 
temporary  quarters  there  with  Sir  George  Buchanan — 
and,  as  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  that  they  get  in 
touch  with  the  Russian  secret  police  immediately,  they  de- 
cided to  attend  a  reception  ball  at  the  French  Embassy, 
where  General  Serge  Lipowski  was  sure  to  appear  some 
time  before  midnight. 

It  was  but  a  short  walk  along  the  Quais  to  the  French 
Embassy,  after  dinner.  The  building  was  filled  with  one 
of  the  most  brilliantly  dressed  and  cosmopolitan  assem- 
blages they  had  ever  seen — among  whom  each  of  the  three 
found  many  old  acquaintances.  About  eleven,  a  well- 
built  man  with  an  iron-gray  fringe  surrounding  the  bald 
spot  on  his  elongated  skull  came  up  to  Lord  Trevor,  in  a 
corner  of  the  ballroom,  with  extended  hand.  He  was 
dressed  in  a  uniform  less  conspicuous  than  most  of  the 
others,  but  instantly  recognized  as  that  of  the  dreaded 
Imperial  Secret  Police. 


302  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"This  is  a  very  pleasant  surprise,  Your  Lordship!  I've 
been  wishing  for  many  months  to  apologize  for  exiling 
your  protege,  Mr.  Silas  Bartlett,  last  year.  It  was  quite 
unavoidable,  you  see,  because  the  man — like  other  head- 
strong Americans — would  persist  in  compromising  him- 
self with  some  of  the  most  dangerous  conspirators  in  Pet- 
rograd." 

They  were  standing  where  a  low  remark  apparently 
could  not  be  overheard,  but  Trevor  smilingly  switched 
the  talk  into  Hindustani  which  he  knew  General  Lip- 
owski  understood  fairly  well. 

"We  brought  three  other  men  like  Bartlett  from  Down- 
ing Street  in  the  submarine,  General.  To  be  quite  frank 
with  you,  I  stumbled  upon  rather  serious  information  in 
London  concerning  the  old  Green  Circle.  It  has  more 
members  and  associates  now  than  it  had  a  year  ago.  Your 
wholesale  clean-up  put  an  end  to  its  activities  for  several 
months — but  you  know  better  than  I  do  that  matters 
have  been  going  wrong  here  under  the  surface. 

"Now — either  Baron  Lammerford  or  I  will  introduce 
two  of  those  men  to  you  at  our  Embassy,  to-morrow,  if 
you'll  call  upon  us  there.  The  third,  we  will  hold  in  re- 
serve for  the  present,  until  we  see  where  he  can  be  used 
to  advantage;  but  you'd  better  vise  his  papers  so  that  he 
may  go  and  come  without  interference.  We'll  have  to 
work  in  our  own  way,  upon  the  special  information  we've 
obtained — but  we'll  need  your  cooperation  and  protection 
at  every  point.  Do  we  get  it?  You  know  what  our 
assistance  was  worth  last  year!" 

"I've  not  forgotten  that,  Your  Lordship.  Neither  you 
nor  your  men  will  have  anything  to  fear  from  the  police, 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  303 

and  you  will  receive  all  the  assistance  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
give.  Of  course,  if  your  men  intend  worming  their  way 
into  the  Green  Circle,  there  will  be  hours  when  it  will  be 
difficult  if  not  impossible  for  us  to  protect  them — but 
we're  all  taking  chances  these  days.  I  will  call  at  the 
Embassy  to-morrow.  If  your  men  will  return  with  me  to 
the  Bureau,  my  lieutenants  will  observe  them  carefully 
and  instruct  them  in  signals  for  assistance  in  emergency." 

Later,  when  the  Earl  stood  talking  with  a  Grand  Duch- 
ess— one  of  the  handsomest  women  in  all  Russia — she 
indicated,  by  a  slight  gesture,  a  man  of  medium  size  in  a 
very  ornate  uniform,  who  was  standing  near  them.  Low- 
ering her  voice  to  a  confidential  tone,  she  said: 

"There  is  a  man  who  promises  to  go  far  if  his  remark- 
able development  continues.  He  is  Count  Boris  Ga- 
zonoff — a  man  of  influence  in  the  General  Congress  of 
the  Association  of  Nobility — who  is  showing  a  capacity  in 
the  way  of  organization  which  makes  him  one  of  the  most 
valuable  executives  in  the  Department  of  Ways  of  Com- 
munication. His  genius  in  that  line  has  been  recognized 
during  the  last  forty -eight  hours  by  an  appointment  which 
gives  him  practically  control  of  the  railway  traffic  manage- 
ment. With  a  man  like  General  Ivan  Ossipovitch  as 
Assistant  Director  of  Munitions  and  Supplies,  there  will 
be  a  straightening-out  of  the  conflicting  departmental 
orders  which  have  so  muddled  things  that  one  army  after 
another  has  been  forced  to  retreat  from  strong  positions 
for  lack  of  supplies  at  the  critical  moment." 

In  a  second  or  two  Earl  Trevor  recognized  the  names 
as  two  of  the  three  Green  Circle  chiefs  mentioned  by  Ma- 


304  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

jor  Lupokovitch  and  as  being  the  real  heads  of  the  Cam- 
arilla. 

"H-m-m — as  Your  Highness  says,  Russia  needs  that 
sort  of  men  to  handle  war  problems  in  a  businesslike  way. 
And  you  must  not  criticise  too  harshly  if  it  takes  him  a 
little  time  to  reorganize " 

"Oh — one  cannot  expect  the  traffic  blunders  to  stop  in 
a  day,  or  a  month — the  system  is  too  vast  a  one.  (One  mo- 
ment! When  I  catch  the  Count's  eye,  I'll  present  him  to 

you.)" 

During  the  conversation  with  Gazonoff,  His  Lordship 
understood,  indirectly,  that  the  Count  was  accustomed 
to  go  over  State  papers  in  his  own  library  every  after- 
noon— and  inferred  that  he  denied  himself  to  practically 
all  callers  during  that  time.  At  four,  the  next  afternoon, 
a  stylish  motor  landaulet  rolled  up  to  the  Count's  resi- 
dence on  the  Kamennoi  Ostrow — (an  island  in  the  Neva 
given  over  exclusively  to  palatial  mansions  of  the  aristoc- 
racy)— and  two  well-dressed  gentlemen  sent  in  their  cards, 
with  one  from  Major  Stefan  Lupokovitch — Attache  of 
the  Russian  Embassy  in  London — introducing  them. 
After  a  short  delay  the  Count  received  them  in  his  pri- 
vate library — and  they  had  been  alone  with  him  scarcely 
ten  minutes  when  he  smilingly  accepted  them  as  would- 
be  associates  of  the  dreaded  and  famous  Green  Circle. 
Trevor  was  now  wearing  a  dark  Van  Dyck  beard  and  mous- 
tache. He  was  apparently  two  inches  shorter  and  forty 
pounds  heavier,  and  he  had  the  yellowing  complexion  of 
one  with  a  congested  liver.  His  French  and  Russian 
were  so  perfect  that  he  might  have  claimed  either  coun- 
try as  his  own — but  he  said  that  he  was  really  a  Dublin 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  305 

man  of  wide  acquaintance  in  every  part  of  the  world. 
Lammerford,  who  had  impersonated  a  French  colonel  of 
engineers  during  a  previous  three  months  in  Russia,  was 
now  an  Irish-American  broker  with  enough  money  at  his 
command  to  finance  an  expedition  to  the  west  coast  of 
Ireland. 

After  they  had  edged  the  talk  a  little  nearer  the  para- 
mount object  of  the  conference,  Gazonoff  himself  sug- 
gested an  end  to  the  fencing. 

"We're  only  wasting  time,  gentlemen!  YouVe  sat- 
isfied me  that  you  are  exactly  what  you  claim  to  be — and 
you  wouldn't  have  presented  Lupokovitch's  card  or  ob- 
tained this  interview  if  there  had  been  any  doubt  in  your 
minds  as  to  where  my  secret  interests  really  lie.  My 
mother  was  a  Prussian  Countess,  related  to  the  kaiser, 
if  you  need  a  further  guarantee.  Now  suppose  we  get 
down  to  a  definite  understanding!  Just  how  do  you  think 
you  can  help  us?  Or — if  it  is  the  other  way  round — just 
what  cooperation  can  we,  or  should  we,  give  you?*' 

"Er — well,  it  seemed  to  us  that  we  might  work  together 
to  our  mutual  advantage.  We  can  start  a  formidable 
rising  in  the  south  of  Ireland  within  twenty-four  hours  of 
the  time  we  succeed  in  landing  two  shiploads  of  arms  in 
some  cove  on  the  west  coast.  But  we  must  have  an  un- 
derstanding with  Berlin  that  our  steamers  will  not  be 
sunk  by  submarines,  en  route.  They  will  be  plainly 
marked,  and  Von  Bernstorf  will  know  when  they  sneak 
out  of  their  American  port.  Furthermore,  in  order  to 
make  the  blow  most  effective,  it  must  be  timed  to  follow 
very  closely  some  Russian  disaster — some  disaster  which 
will  release  a  lot  of  German  divisions  from  the  east  front 


306  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

and  put  them  in  France  so  suddenly  that  the  full  English 
force  will  be  needed  to  strengthen  their  lines.  You  can 
easily  see  that  a  serious  revolution  in  Ireland,  coming  at 
such  a  time,  is  likely  to  completely  disorganize  British 
plans.  That  and  your  Russian  disaster  will  dishearten  the 
Entente  everywhere — it  will  immensely  strengthen  your 
pro-German  peace  party  here — possibly  enable  you  to 
pull  off  a  coup  d'etat  and  get  control  of  things. 

"If  you  think  favorably  of  our  plan,  I  think  we  should 
have  a  clear  understanding  of  what  you  are  in  a  position  to 
do  here  and  meet  a  number  of  your  associates — with  whom 
we  may  communicate  as  to  various  details  when  the  dual 
arrangements  are  complete.  It  would,  of  course,  help  us 
materially  if  you  could  smuggle  a  few  thousand  men  over 
to  the  United  States,  or  put  us  in  touch  with  Germans 
there  who  might  be  willing  to  venture  on  our  Irish  ex- 
pedition. Additional  money  will  also  help — though  we 
are  prepared  to  go  ahead  if  we  don't  scrape  up  another 
rouble." 

Gazonoff  was  more  than  pleased.  He  had  not  sup- 
posed it  possible  that  anything  like  a  serious  rebellion 
would  be  attempted  in  Ireland  for  some  time,  consider- 
ing the  Dublin  fiasco,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  the 
Green  Circle  could  scarcely  make  a  better  investment 
than  appropriating  a  couple  of  million  roubles  for  such  an 
enterprise.  He  intimated  as  much — but  mentioned  only 
two  or  three  of  the  names  which  Trevor  had  hoped  to  get. 
In  a  few  moments  the  Earl  decided  to  risk  one  of  the 
drugged  cigars  and  offered  it — apparently  taking  another, 
from  the  same  case,  for  himself. 

The  result  exceeded  even  his  expectations.     For  twenty 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  307 

minutes  the  Count — with  no  consciousness  of  what  he 
was  doing — poured  out  such  a  mass  of  Russo-German 
intrigue  that  they  had  difficulty  in  jotting  down  the  es- 
sential points  as  he  spoke.  Among  other  things,  he  de- 
scribed in  detail  just  how  nineteen  trainloads  of  munitions 
and  food  for  the  armies  in  Roumania  were  to  be  sent  wan- 
dering over  Central  Asia  through  a  confusion  of  orders — 
at  a  time  when  it  would  cause  the  certain  defeat  of  those 
armies,  or  their  hopeless  retreat.  Finally  he  fell  into  so 
heavy  a  stupor  that  they  feared  a  weak  heart  might  have 
been  fatally  affected  by  the  drug. 

Assuming  that  several  of  his  household  must  be  agents 
of  the  Green  Circle,  it  seemed  exceedingly  dangerous  to 
risk  their  coming  in  unexpectedly  and  finding  him  in  such 
a  condition.  So  they  touched  a  push-button  on  the  wall, 
and  when  his  private  secretary  answered  the  call,  said  that 
he  had  been  attacked  by  a  fainting-spell  while  talking 
with  them.  The  secretary  admitted  that  the  Count  was 
a  heavy  smoker  who,  occasionally,  had  functional  trouble 
with  his  heart;  but  after  they  had  unfastened  his  collar 
and  forced  a  few  drops  of  aromatic  ammonia  between  his 
lips,  be  slowly  regained  consciousness. 

When  Gazonoff  began  to  feel  himself  again,  he  was  quite 
annoyed  at  what  he  supposed  a  seizure  caused  by  tempo- 
rarily impaired  digestion.  He  scouted  the  idea  that  there 
was  anything  wrong  with  his  heart  and  sent  his  secretary 
out  of  the  room — after  which  he  took  from  a  drawer  of 
his  desk  a  box  of  black  cigars.  As  he  was  clipping  the 
end  of  one  Trevor  drew  a  morocco  case  from  his  pocket 
and  opened  it. 

"Er — one    moment,    Your    Excellency!    Your   health 


308  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

and  clear  brain  are  too  valuable  to  our  cause  to  risk  any 
needless  tampering  with  them.  After  such  a  fainting- 
spell  as  you've  just  had  one  of  those  black  cigars  might 
injure  you  seriously — and,  with  all  due  respect  to  your 
tobacco  importer,  I'm  quite  sure  you'll  find  these  milder 
ones  of  much  better  flavor.  They're  specially  made  for 
me  in  Havana  at  twenty  guineas  the  hundred." 

The  Count  accepted  another  long  cigar  and  lighted  it 
— his  face  expressing  intense  satisfaction  as  he  drew  in  the 
first  puffs.  Then  his  visitors  got  up  to  leave,  saying  they 
would  call  again  within  a  few  days.  The  cigar  was  some- 
thing better  than  Gazonoff  had  ever  smoked  in  his  life — 
putting  him  in  such  a  thoroughly  contented  frame  of  mind 
that  he  walked  out  through  the  main  hall  with  them  as  far 
as  the  porte-cochere. 

When  they  were  rolling  back  to  the  Quai  du  Palais,  a 
Downing  Street  man  from  the  Embassy  acting  as  chauf- 
feur, Lammerford  asked: 

"What  in  heaven's  name  did  you  do  that  for!  Every- 
one in  the  house  is  sure  to  know  we've  drugged  him,  now!" 

"Not  as  I  figure  it,  Lammy — though  I'll  admit  there's 
some  risk !  In  this  morocco  case  there  were  four  cigars — each 
of  them  loaded  with  fifty  grains  of  the  stuff — a  dose  that 
would  kfll  an  ox,  according  to  Jimmy  Grantham — particu- 
larly a  man  with  Gazonoff' s  weak  heart.  Before  we  were 
off  the  Island,  I  fancy  he  was  trampin'  up  an'  down  that 
hall,  yellin'  out  everything  he  knew  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 
His  secretary  an'  servants  '11  be  paralyzed  with  fear  for 
about  two  minutes;  then  they'll  grab  an'  gag  him,  thinkin* 
the  man  has  suddenly  gone  crazy.  He'll  die  in  their 


THE  SHIFTING  MINISTRIES  309 

arms.  There'll  be  no  trace  of  poison  in  him  for  an  autopsy 
to  show — any  physician  in  Petrograd  will  call  it  a  case  of 
tobacco-heart.  An'  those  nineteen  trainloads  of  muni- 
tions for  the  armies  in  Roumania  will  not  be  back-tracked 
into  Central  Asia!  I'll  give  Serge  Lipowski  enough  of  a 
hint  to  make  jolly  well  sure  they  won't!  When  Gazonoff 
told  us  how  nearly  that  plan  was  completed,  I  knew  he'd 
have  to  go  before  we  left  that  house!  With  the  fate  of 
nations  at  stake  one  doesn't  consider  individual  traitors 
of  that  stamp !  An'  we've  our  work  cut  out  for  us,  'Lam- 
my !'  I  fancied  we  might  go  back  in  a  fortn't  or  so — but 
it'll  be  a  longer  job  than  that.  We've  a  business  Govern- 
m'nt  at  home  now — things  should  move  with  a  more  re- 
lentless purpose;  an'  I  fancy  we  can  do  more  for  England 
right  here,  in  the  next  month  or  so,  than  anywhere  else  on 
the  globe!" 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    BREEDING    OF    SUSPICION 

EARL  TREVOR  and  Baron  Lammerford  were  fre- 
quent and  immensely  popular  visitors  in  Petrograd 
— Sir  Abdool,  almost  as  much  so.  But  they  were 
known  entirely  in  their  social  and  official  capacity,  as  naval 
and  army  officers — sport-loving  peers — with  neither  taste 
nor  ability  for  politics  of  any  sort.  It  is  true  that  they 
were  sometimes  intrusted  with  special  missions  by  their 
Government — as  in  the  present  case,  where  they  brought 
with  them  three  brilliant  secret-service  men  from  Down- 
ing Street  to  work  with  General  Lipowski's  police  in  check- 
ing the  German  intrigue.  But  what  Lipowski  never 
knew  was  the  fact  that  they,  themselves,  were  the  secret 
agents — and  so  carefully  did  they  alternate  their  work 
that  one  or  two  of  them  were  usually  in  evidence  at  the 
Embassy  or  calling  upon  some  well-known  personage  at 
a  time  when  all  three  of  the  Douming  Street  men  were 
supposed  to  be  working  in  disguise  under  the  sur- 
face. 

Two  nights  after  Gazonoff's  startling  death  there  was 
a  reception  at  the  British  Embassy,  during  which  they 
were  introduced  to  several  of  the  nobility  whom  they  had 
not  previously  met.  The  Princess  Xenia  Tarazine — 
who  claimed  lineal  descent  from  Ghenghis  Khan  and  was 
said  to  be  worth  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  million 

810 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION         311 

roubles — found  Earl  Trevor  the  most  fascinating  man  of 
her  entire  acquaintance  and  tried  to  secure  a  promise 
that  he  would  drop  in  upon  her  for  tea  the  next  afternoon. 
His  Lordship  regretted  that  previous  engagements  pre- 
vented his  calling  before  the  end  of  the  week,  but  said 
that  an  American  friend  of  his,  then  in  Petrograd,  was 
very  anxious  to  meet  her,  and  asked  if  he  might  give  Mr. 
McMurtagh  a  card.  Having  no  suspicion  that  Count 
Gazonoff,  while  under  the  influence  of  a  drugged  cigar, 
had  mentioned  her  as  one  of  the  Camarilla — and  being 
hi  the  mood  to  grant  Trevor  almost  anything  he  asked 
— she  at  once  consented  to  receive  his  friend  next 
day. 

When  the  Honorable  Aloysius  presented  himself  in 
the  drawing  room  of  her  luxurious  Tudor  palace  on  the 
Kamennoi  Ostrow  (literally,  "Stony  Island"),  she  was 
positive  they  had  never  met  before,  though  he  mentioned 
so  many  mutual  acquaintances  that  it  seemed  odd  they 
had  never  happened  upon  each  other.  Unconsciously 
comparing  the  two  men,  she  fancied  McMurtagh  shorter 
and  heavier  than  Earl  Trevor.  He  wore  a  close-clipped 
moustache — had  dark  hair  and  a  swarthy  complexion — a 
distinguished-looking  man  in  any  company,  and  nobody's 
fool.  Without  knowing  just  why,  she  liked  him  at  once 
— unreservedly — as  did  her  other  guests. 

He  outstayed  the  other  callers  and,  by  secret  recogni- 
tion-signs, convinced  her  that  he  was  affiliated  with  the 
Green  Circle — saying  that  he  had  sought  the  interview  to 
warn  her  of  the  compromising  things  Gazonoff  had  said 
before  he  died.  McMurtagh  gave  her  the  impression  that 
the  work  of  the  Green  Circle  was  really  repugnant  to  him 


312  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

— which  confirmed  in  her  a  growing  distaste  for  the  Ger- 
man intrigue — and  she  finally  invited  him  to  remain  for 
a  week  or  two  as  one  of  her  house-guests. 

That  night  the  monk,  Rasputin,  came  to  her  palace 
and  insulted  every  woman  in  it  by  dancing  a  semi-re- 
ligious interpretation  known  as  the  Khylsty.  With  Mc- 
Murtagh  and  young  Prince  Kussopoff,  who  had  recently 
married  into  the  imperial  family,  she  decided  that  the 
monk  was  no  longer  tolerable  in  Petrograd.  McMur- 
tagh's  idea  was  to  capture  the  man — shave  him  until  he 
•was  unrecognizable — and  have  Lipowski's  police  railroad 
him  to  Siberia.  But  in  carrying  this  out,  Rasputin  be- 
came suspicious — shot  one  of  the  Prince's  servants — and 
was  himself  killed  by  a  young  English  Countess  who  had 
consented  to  act  as  their  decoy,  after  the  monk  had  brut- 
ally knocked  her  down.  Which  brings  us  to  the  day 
after  his  death — the  Honorable  Aloysius  having  endeared 
himself  to  Kussupoff  and  the  Princess  Xenia  as  a  com- 
panion-in-arms upon  whom  they  might  depend  to  the 
limit,  under  any  circumstances. 

All  Petrograd  was  seething  over  the  assassination,  none 
doubting  that  the  intriguing  monk  had  been  treacherously 
done  to  death,  and  the  half-dozen  people  who  knew  how  it 
had  accidentally  come  about  were  keeping  that  informa- 
tion to  themselves  for  perfectly  obvious  reasons.  After 
the  first  rumors,  there  was  a  general  disinclination  to  be- 
lieve that  the  well-hated  power  behind  the  throne  was 
really  dead.  His  killing  had  been  unsuccessfully  attempted 
upon  more  than  one  occasion,  with  disastrous  results 
for  the  would-be  executioners.  But  General  Lipowski's 
police  had  chopped  a  hole  in  the  Neva  ice,  lowered  a 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          313 

diver  through  it  and  recovered  a  body  that  was  unques- 
tionably that  of  Gregory  Rasputin. 

On  the  surface,  the  affair  was  scarcely  more  than  a  three- 
day  scandal — shoved  into  the  background  by  other  start- 
ling occurrences.  The  monk  was  dead;  it  was  apparently 
impossible  to  discover  his  assassins.  In  the  political  un- 
dercurrents of  the  Russian  capital,  however,  the  matter 
was  destined  to  arouse  deadly  suspicion  among  several 
groups  of  conspirators  and,  as  time  went  on,  to  develop 
intrigue  within  intrigue  until  the  infamous  Green  Circle 
was  shaken  to  its  outermost  periphery. 

This  influence  began  to  develop  in  the  Tarazine  Palace 
within  a  few  hours  after  Rasputin's  body  had  been  re- 
covered from  under  the  ice. 

McMurtagh  had  breakfasted  with  the  Princess  Xenia 
in  her  private  suite,  in  order  that  she  might  be  given  suf- 
ficient information  to  prevent  young  Prince  Kussupoff's 
arrest.  With  the  exception  of  the  Prince's  three  servants 
and  the  English  Countess,  they  were  the  only  people  in 
Petrograd  who  knew  of  the  original  plan  to  shave  Raspu- 
tin and  have  him  sent  to  the  Siberian  mines — who  knew 
that  he  had  been  really  shot  by  Countess  Wirdovski, 
after  he  had  brutally  knocked  her  down.  But  five  of  the 
other  house-guests  happened  to  be  members  of  the  Green 
Circle  and  had  heard  Xenia  thank  Prince  Kussupoff  for 
driving  the  monk  out  of  her  palace,  after  the  revolting 
dance  which  he  had  performed. 

Hence,  when  the  fact  of  his  death  had  been  established, 
they  began  comparing  notes.  They  hinted  various  sus- 
picions guardedly  to  a  few  others — who  casually  happened 
in  after  dinner  that  evening.  McMurtagh,  nobody  ap- 


314  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

peared  to  connect  with  the  affair  at  all.  He  had  but  re- 
cently arrived  from  America,  was  known  to  be  conferring 
with  Green  Circle  leaders  upon  an  Irish  uprising  timed  to 
follow  a  German  coup  d'etat  in  Petrograd,  and  was  not  sup- 
posed to  have  had  any  interest  in  the  monk,  one  way  or 
another.  Prince  Kussupoff  was,  at  the  moment,  on  the 
train  to  join  his  imperial  wife  in  the  Crimea,  a  fact  which 
the  Princess  Xenia  carelessly  mentioned  as  though  all 
must  be  aware  of  it. 

For  an  hour  after  dinner  the  conversation  in  the  great 
hall  of  the  palace,  where  everyone  had  gone  to  smoke,  was 
confined.to  general  topics.  But  after  the'few  loyal  Russian 
callers  had  taken  their  leave,  the  talk  became  more  ex- 
plosive. Hints  and  thinly  veiled  accusations  went  back 
and  forth  like  ripostes  in  a  fencing-match.  It  was  Grand 
Duke  Feodor  who  presently  became  more  personal  in  his 
insinuations. 

"This  is  the  worst  blow  our  organization  has  yet  re- 
ceived !  We  could  have  better  spared  any  one  rather  than 
Rasputin!  The  man  had  his  faults  and  was  a  moujik, 
as  everyone  knows — but  he  was  the  only  one  who  could 
always  influence  the  Emperor  against  any  particular 
statesman  in  public  office.  Every  time  the  Progressives 
— curse  them — have  managed  to  seat  a  premier  or  for- 
eign secretary,  Rasputin  has  unseated  him  by  working  up- 
on His  Majesty's  weak  points,  and  we've  nobody  left  for 
that  sort  of  work!  We'll  know,  sooner  or  later,  who  were 
responsible  for  his  shooting — and  I  promise  you  they'll 
follow  him  without  delay!  Aye,  even  if  the  evidence 
points  to  some  who  are  here  at  this  moment,  regardless  of 
sex!" 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          315 

The  Princess  Xenia  lighted  a  cigarette  and  blew  a  lit- 
tle smoke  toward  the  Grand  Duke  with  unmistakable  in- 
solence. He  was  an  unbidden  guest  that  evening — never 
a  welcome  one. 

"Meaning  me — Feodor  Feodorovitch?" 

"Meaning  any  one  implicated  in  that  murder — even 
thou,  Xenia  Tarazine!" 

"Hmph!  Almost,  I  am  persuaded  to  say  I  did  it!  I'm 
really  curious  to  know  what  you'd  do — how  you'd  go 
about  it — and  how  many  minutes  you'd  live — afterward. 
My  servants  wouldn't  hesitate  about  killing  you,  even  if 
some  of  my  guests  did!  It  was  hinted  to  me,  this  morn- 
ing, that  the  fellow  was  killed  unintentionally — during  an 
attempt  to  exile  him  to  Siberia.  Had  that  been  carried 
out,  I  should  have  most  heartily  approved.  He  was  get- 
ting to  be  an  unbearable  offense  in  Petrograd — too  much 
of  a  one  to  be  received  in  any  decent  house. 

"And  I'll  confess  that  I'm  disgusted  with  the  whole  of 
this  German  intrigue.  There  are  nations  in  the  world,  to- 
day, which  are  doing  unbelievable  things — committing 
crimes  that  would  make  a  Cossack  tremble  with  fear  of 
the  hereafter!  There  can  be  no  possible  advantage  to 
the  nobility  of  Russia  in  being  affiliated  with  them.  I'm 
conscious  of  burning  shame  for  such  association — and 
though  I've  no  intention  of  denouncing  others  among  us 
who  have  been  equally  to  blame  in  this  matterjl  wish  it  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  I  have  no  further  interest  in  the 
Camarilla — the  Green  Circle — or  their  objects!" 

There  was  a  sinister  murmur  from  three  of  the  men  pres- 
ent; the  Grand  Duke's  face  slowly  darkened. 

"So!    You  would  defy  the  Green  Circle  and  expect  to 


816  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

live!  You  would  stand  aside — refuse  to  assist,  either  with 
your  fortune  or  your  personal  influence!  Others  have 
died  for  less — much  less — considering  what  you  might  be- 
tray if  the  whim  seized  you ! " 

"If  the  whim  seizes  me,  Feodor  Feodorovitch,  rest  as- 
sured that  I  shall  say  what  I  wish  to  say,  concerning  any 
one;  and  neither  thou  nor  others  in  the  Circle  will  remove 
me  one  moment  before  my  allotted  time.  What  is  writ- 
ten— will  be!  Your  Highness,  I  wrote  out  a  list  of  sev- 
eral hundred  names,  this  morning,  with  an  accompanying 
statement,  and  placed  it,  sealed,  beyond  your  reach.  It 
is  supposed  to  be  a  codicil  to  my  will.  Within  an  hour 
after  my  death  or  disappearance  is  reported,  it  will  be 
opened  and  read  by  men  whose  loyalty  to  Russia  has  been 
tested  a  hundred  times.  I  am  a  noble,  of  Tartar  blood, 
and  I  do  not  betray  my  Order  unless  it  threatens  the  ex- 
istence or  welfare  of  my  country.  You  will  be  wise  if  you 
do  not  proceed  to  extremes  which  bring  that  conviction 
home  to  me.  What  I  don't  know,  I  can't  judge.  But 
don't  forget  that  list  in  the  hands  of  my  executors!  Who 
knows  what  names  or  what  proofs  of  treason  may  be 
found  in  that  document  if  I  should  disappear  suddenly?" 

The  Grand  Duke  was  almost  beside  himself,  but  upon 
his  forehead  and  those  of  the  others  beads  of  perspiration 
began  to  gather. 

"Curse  you,  Xenia!  I  believe  you  shot  Rasputin 
yourself!" 

The  Honorable  Aloysius  had  been  an  interested  listener 
in  one  corner,  but  the  talk  appeared  to  be  reaching  a  point 
where  anything  might  happen  if  the  strain  increased. 
Lighting  a  cigar,  he  interrupted  with  a  good-natured  drawl : 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          317 

"If  your  organization  has  a  secret  service,  as  one  infers 
it  must  have,  I  fancy  you're  rather  badly  served  by  it — 
because  I  stumbled  upon  a  few  bits  of  information  yester- 
day which  convinced  me  that  your  scoundrelly  monk  was 
selling  you  out.  If  you  are  good  judges  of  character,  you 
must  have  seen  that  the  fellow  was  fairly  insane  in  his 
desire  for  power.  And  knowing  that  fact,  it  would  occur 
to  an  onlooker  like  myself  that  he  stood  to  gain  a  lot  more 
from  the  Czar  and  the  Russian  Government  than  from 
Germany.  When  this  war  is  over,  Russia  will  continue  to 
exist  as  she  did  before.  She  may  be  more  powerful — or 
less — but  I  fancy  even  the  kaiser  hardly  expects  to  control 
her  entirely,  unless  he's  an  utter  fool.  Your  monk 
expected  to  remain  here  in  the  Russian  Court,  of  course. 
Well,  he  had  more  to  sell  the  Czar  than  he  had  to  sell  your 
organization — and  stood  to  gain  far  more  by  it." 

It  was  apparent  that  some,  if  not  all  of  the  men,  didn't 
relish  this  suggestion  or  such  interference  upon  the  part  of 
a  mere  visitor  in  Russia — an  outsider,  even  though  he 
might  be  a  prospective  fellow  conspirator.  They  listened 
with  ill-concealed  impatience  and  disbelief. 

"It  is  easy,  Sir  American,  to  accuse  a  dead  man  of 
treachery ! " 

"Yes — you  were  sure  to  say  that,  of  course.  But,  one 
moment!  Last  evening  I  was  passing  a  house  in  the  old 
quarter  of  the  city — the  sort  of  place  which  might  be 
occupied  by  a  tradesman  in  good  circumstances  and  which 
becomes  a  lodging-house  ast  he  neighborhood  deteriorates. 
Rasputin  came  out  of  that  house  in  a  sneaking  sort  of  way 
that  made  me  step  back  for  a  better  look  at  the  place.  In 
about  three  minutes  General  Serge  Lipowski — who,  I 


318  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

understand,  is  the  responsible  man  behind  the  Russian 
Police — came  out  in  much  the  same  manner  and  went  off 
in  the  opposite  direction. 

"This  morning  I  was  introduced  to  a  young  officer  who 
supposed  me  unquestionably  on  the  side  of  the  Entente. 
He  was  so  full  of  a  rumor  he'd  heard  that  he  couldn't 
help  repeating  it  to  us — a  rumor  that  Lipowski  had  dis- 
covered a  plot  to  cut  the  trusses  of  a  long  Volga  railway 
bridge  with  oxy-acetylene,  and  send  half  a  dozen  supply 
trains  racing  down  to  it  from  those  munition  factories 
along  the  river,  in  response  to  a  hurry-up  telegram  from 
the  front.  Of  course,  the  first  train  will  smash  through 
into  the  river,  but  everyone  along  that  section  of  the  line 
is  in  the  plot  and  no  warning  will  be  sent  back  to  the  fol- 
lowing trains. 

"The  cavalry  captain  who  told  us  the  story  said  the 
information  came  to  Lipowski  from  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  in  the  reactionary  party — a  man  probably  con- 
nected with  the  mysterious  Green  Circle — and  that  prepa- 
rations have  been  made  not  only  to  repair  the  bridge  be- 
fore those  trains  are  sent  over  it,  but  to  arrest  more  than 
a  hundred  people  implicated  in  the  plot. 

"Now,  I'm  an  outsider,  as  you  say — not  entirely  in 
your  confidence  as  yet.  But  I've  heard  enough  to  know 
the  destruction  of  those  munition  trains  was  planned  in 
just  about  that  way;  and  I  suggest  that  General  Ossipo- 
vitch,  who  I  understand  has  succeeded  Count  Gazonoff 
in  handling  the  transportation  system,  make  himself 
noticeably  active  in  getting  those  particular  trains  to  the 
Roumanian  armies  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  If  any 
of  you  see  him  to-night,  you'd  best  tell  him  what  I've  said. 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  319 

Lipowski  won't  dare  arrest  those  hundred  people  under 
suspicion  without  more  tangible  evidence  than  he  yet  has. 
Lie  low  on  this  munition-train  proposition  awhile;  then 
perfect  some  other  plan." 

McMurtagh's  manner  was  quiet  but  convincing.  They 
began  to  think  he  might  prove  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
Green  Circle  after  all.  Here  was  a  man  who  kept  him- 
self alert  in  a  city  which  was  strange  to  him — where  he 
had  but  a  rudimentary  knowledge  of  the  language.  He 
had  spoken  in  French,  that  his  choice  of  words  might  not 
lead  to  any  possible  misunderstanding — and  the  circum- 
stantial evidence  which  had  come  under  his  observation 
seemed  to  leave  no  doubt  that  his  charge  of  treachery 
against  the  dead  monk  had  pretty  solid  foundation. 

One  of  his  listeners  tried  to  explain  it  away  upon  a 
rather  plausible  theory. 

"If  Lipowski  had  sent  for  Rasputin — commanded  him 
to  report,  for  some  particular  examination — he  would 
have  been  compelled  to  go — 

"A  man  who  controlled  the  Czar  sufficiently  to  make 
and  unmake  Russian  premiers?  Hardly!  He'd  have 
been  more  likely  to  suggest  Lipowski's  appearing  before 
him  and  the  Emperor!  Again — had  he  been  commanded 
to  appear  before  the  Head  of  the  Police,  it  would  have  been 
at  Lipowski's  office  in  the  Prefecture — not  clandestinely 
at  that  mysterious  house  in  the  old  quarter  of  the  city! 
That  rendezvous  was  intended  to  be  a  secret  one!  Now 
comes  the  question  as  to  whether  Rasputin  was  playing  a 
lone  hand  in  betraying  your  organization?  His  individ- 
ual word  carried  a  good  deal  of  weight — but  it  seems  to 
me  that  it  wouldn't  have  been  conclusive  with  such  a  man 


320  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

as  Lipowski  unless  some  of  the  prominent  nobles  backed 
him  in  the  betrayal  of  their  former  associates.  One  way 
of  getting  at  the  probabilities  in  that  line  would  be  to  in- 
vestigate, among  yourselves,  just  how  many  were  fully 
conversant  with  the  details  of  this  bridge-wrecking  propo- 
sition. It  is  an  engineering  matter  which  I  should  have 
supposed  out  of  that  monk's  line  altogether.  He  prob- 
ably knew  the  fact  but  not  the  details — and  Lipowski  is 
quite  evidently  in  possession  of  all  the  technical  data. 
When  you  find  out  which  members  of  your  organization 
were  in  position  to  give  such  information,  I  think  it  may 
be  an  obvious  precaution  to  keep  an  eye  on  them  for  a 
while.  Frankly — I've  been  amazed  at  the  extent  and 
power  of  your  organization.  Anything  of  its  size  is  sure 
to  be  in  danger  of  treachery  where  you  least  suspect  it. 
That  seems  unavoidable." 

This  was  even  more  disquieting  to  at  least  eight  of  the 
party  in  the  big  hall. 

That  the  man  whom  they'd  considered  their  strongest 
influence  in  the  web  of  German  intrigue  at  Petrograd 
should  have  proved  a  traitor  who  had  been  eliminated 
none  too  soon — possibly  by  some  of  their  own  associates — 
was  startling  enough.  But  the  more  they  considered 
this  Irish-American's  further  suggestions  the  more  it 
seemed  treachery  might  be  stalking  at  their  very  elbows. 

In  the  silence  which  followed  McMurtagh's  remarks, 
they  noticed  that  one  of  their  number  was  looking  fixedly 
at  the  Honorable  Aloysius  in  a  peculiar  manner.  The 
Baroness  Sophie  Mourakoff  had  been  for  six  years  one  of 
the  reigning  beauties  of  Petrograd  and  Moscow.  De- 
scended from  an  old  Slav  family,  she  was  considered 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  321 

thoroughly  Russian  in  spite  of  several  German  inter- 
marriages— which  made  her  the  more  valuable  to  the 
chiefs  of  the  Green  Circle  and  more  dangerous  to  the  Rus- 
sian Government.  With  the  manner  and  appearance  of  an 
ingenue,  she  was  equipped  with  a  maturely  subtle  intel- 
lect which  grasped  the  motive  behind  human  actions  in 
a  rather  uncanny  way — it  was  the  sort  of  prescient  under- 
standing one  never  looks  for  in  a  debutante.  There  was 
now,  in  the  question  she  asked  McMurtagh,  a  suggestion 
of  dread  possibilities  which  attracted  the  attention  of 
everyone. 

"At  what  time  last  evening,  m'sieur,  did  you  see  Raspu- 
tin coming  out  of  that  mysterious  old  house?" 

Trevor  felt  a  creepy  sensation  along  the  flesh  between 
his  shoulders,  but  replied  without  the  slightest  hesitation: 

"Possibly  half  after  six.  I  was  on  my  way  to  dine  with 
friends  at  the  Donon,  on  the  Moika" 

"You're  quite  sure  you  saw  the  monk  himself,  at  that 
hour — in  the  old  quarter  of  the  city?" 

"Positive,  Baroness.  I  had  a  close  view  of  his  face  in 
the  light  from  an  arc-lamp  at  the  corner." 

"Then  would  you  mind  telling  us  how  he  happened  to 
be  acting  as  the  chauffeur  of  a  landaulet  in  front  of  the 
French  Embassy  at  eleven  o'clock  last  night,  when  you 
came  out  from  the  ball  with  a  lady  and  drove  away  in 
it?" 

Again  Earl  Trevor  was  conscious  of  the  creepy  sensa- 
tion along  his  spine.  It  was  one  thing  for  the  Princess 
Xenia  to  defy  the  dreaded  Green  Circle  and  take  measures 
to  protect  herself  from  assassination  by  members  of  her 
own  Order;  she  knew  the  game — the  risks — the  difficul- 


322  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ties  in  making  away  with  a  woman  of  her  position  and 
vast  wealth.  But  for  a  British  peer,  masquerading  as  an 
Irish-American  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  coups  planned 
by  the  German  intrigue  in  Petrograd,  there  was  no  pos- 
sible immunity,  once  his  real  purpose  was  suspected. 
Trevor  had  been  in  hundreds  of  tight  places  within  the  pre- 
vious ten  years,  but  he  realized,  as  he  sat  there  surrounded 
by  all  the  evidences  of  wealth  and  ultra-civilization  in 
one  of  Russia's  most  famous  palaces,  that  his  life  had 
never  been  in  greater  danger.  Yet,  as  always  in  moments 
of  greatest  risk,  his  manner  was  never  more  genially  self- 
possessed.  His  assumption  that  there  could  be  no  pos- 
sible reason  for  suspecting  him  of  any  questionable  pro- 
ceeding was  convincing;  he  seemed  to  be  surrounded  by 
an  aura  of  genuineness  and  puzzled  bewilderment  as  he 
answered  her  question. 

"I  fancy  you  can't  possibly  be  right  in  that  statement, 
Baroness — though  I'll  admit  I  didn't  look  at  the  chauf- 
feur when  I  stepped  into  that  landaulet.  It  was  my 
friend's  car.  Now  I  think  of  it,  she  made  some  remark 
about  her  own  man  being  called  away  that  evening  by 
the  death  of  a  relative,  and  sending  another  chauffeur  to 
fill  his  place  temporarily.  But — even  so,  what  possible 
object  could  that  infernal  monk  have  in  such  masquerad- 
ing? Why — the  doctors  say  he  must  have  been  shot  be- 
fore that  hour!  We  were  driven  straight  from  the  French 
Embassy  to  my  friend's  residence — the  car  was  put  in 
the  garage  on  the  premises. 

"Those  facts  are  too  easily  verified  to  be  disputed.  And 
«ven  though  I  didn't  get  a  square  look  at  the  chauffeur, 
I'm  quite  positive  I  should  have  recognized  Rasputin 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  323 

from  his  massive  shoulders  and  his  unusual  hair.  The 
man  certainly  was  in  this  house  long  enough  to  have  rec- 
ognized me  anywhere.  What  object  could  he  have  had  in 
spying  upon  a  person  in  my  position,  escorting  to  her  home 
a  lady  well  known  in  this  city?  If  you'll  pardon  my  put- 
ting it  that  way,  the  supposition  is  too  absurd  to  consider 
for  a  moment!  If  the  man  had  injured  me  in  any  way, 
I  fancy  I'd  have  had  no  hesitation  in  shooting  him;  but 
his  relations  with  your  organization  were  none  of  my  affair. 
I  never  saw  him  outside  of  this  house  except  upon  the  occa- 
sion I've  mentioned." 

"And  who  was  the  lady,  m'sieur?" 

McMurtagh's  laughing  retort  brought  a  smile  to  every 
face  in  the  group — for  a  moment. 

"Er — possibly  a  relative  of  the  gentleman  with  whom 
you  were  sleighing  on  the  Neva,  two  nights  ago,  Baroness  J 
Of  course,  I  can't  be  positive  upon  that  point  unless  you 
care  to  enlighten  us.  But — returning  to  more  serious 
matters,  if  you  permit  me — I  think,  from  an  outsider's 
viewpoint,  it  might  be  well  for  your  organization  to  do  a 
little  investigating  from  the  inside  before  attempting  to 
go  ahead  with  any  of  your  definite  plans. 

"Here  is  the  position  which  Major  Brady  and  I  occupy. 
We  came  to  you  with  credentials  from  Major  Lupoko- 
vitch  of  the  London  Embassy — expecting  to  work  out  a 
plan  whereby  we  might  cooperate  with  you  by  starting 
something  in  Ireland  simultaneously  with  a  coup  in  Petro- 
grad.  We  have  funds  enough  to  do  a  good  deal;  we 
could  go  further  if  you  cared  to  assist  us  financially — that 
part  of  it  is  entirely  up  to  you.  We  had  blocked  out  a 
good  working  plan  with  Count  Gazonoff  just  before  bis 


324  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

sudden  death — which  appears  to  have  left  things  rather 
up  in  the  air.  Just  now,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  can  do 
nothing  but  mark  time  until  your  organization  is  more 
certain  of  carrying  out  its  plans  without  betrayal  and 
disaster.  Once  we  start  anything  in  Ireland,  we  must  go 
through  with  it — or  hang." 

The  young  Baroness  had  been  thoughtfully  studying 
McMurtagh's  face  as  he  spoke.  Unless  her  knowledge  of 
human  character  was  more  faulty  than  she  believed,  tha 
man  was  as  genuine  as  he  seemed.  When  he  said  he 
would  have  shot  the  monk  had  there  been  any  reason 
for  so  doing,  his  manner  carried  the  conviction  that  per- 
sonal fear  was  an  element  which  had  been  left  out  of  his 
make-up.  On  a  basis  of  ordinary  probability,  it  did 
seem  ridiculous  that  Rasputin  should  have  voluntarily 
disguised  himself  as  the  unknown  lady's  chauffeur — the 
Baroness's  statement  that  she  had  recognized  the  monk 
was  merely  a  shot  in  the  dark — she  was  by  no  means  cer- 
tain of  it.  As  for  McMurtagh's  statements,  they  hadn't 
a  flaw — his  position  among  them  was  exactly  what  he 
claimed,  and  Baron  Stellanovski  had  expressed  himself 
as  entirely  satisfied  with  the  credentials  the  two  men  had 
brought  from  London.  Cold  reason  told  her  this  Irish- 
American  should  prove  a  valuable  co-worker  in  the  Ger- 
man cause — a  confrere  to  be  cultivated  and  assisted  in 
every  possible  manner.  But — instinct  favored  the  im- 
pression that  she  was  yet  very  far  from  plumbing  the  man's 
depths  or  the  secret  motives  in  what  he  did  or  said.  He 
was  magnetic — curiously  so.  She  was  vaguely  aware 
that  the  Princess  Xenia  also  was  finding  the  man  a  mys- 
tery worth  studying.  An  alliance,  of  course,  was  impoa- 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION        325 

sible — he  wasn't  even  of  aristocratic  birth.  But — a  love 
affair — under  the  rose?  Was  there  a  limit  at  which  the 
Tartar  blood  of  the  Tarazines  would  balk,  once  its  latent 
fire  became  thoroughly  aroused?  Was  there,  for  that 
matter,  such  a  limit  among  the  Mourakoffs?  Presently 
several  of  the  men  drifted  away  to  the  billiard  room  and 
the  rest  to  other  parts  of  the  house.  The  Grand  Duke 
led  McMurtagh  aside  before  going  out  to  his  car. 

"M'sieur  Americain — you  are  evidently  an  excellent 
judge  of  character  and  you've  been  a  guest  here  long 
enough  to  have  formed  some  opinion  as  to  what  the  Prin- 
cess might  do  under  certain  conditions.  Have  you  any 
idea  what  turned  her  against  our  organization?" 

"Probably  a  combination  of  several  things.  She's 
proud  of  her  blood — older  than  the  Romanoffs — and  her 
descent  from  Ghenghis  Khan.  She's  the  noble  of  Russia 
to  her  finger-tips,  with  all  the  sense  of  obligation  to 
Order  and^Country  which  that  implies.  When  Rasputin 
danced  that  Kkylsty  thing  here,  the  other  night — being 
the  moujik  he  was — she  was  outraged  in  all  her  racial 
sensibilities.  Then — the  German  atrocities — the  inex- 
cusable murders  of  women  and  children  on  land  and  sea — 
are  things  at  which  even  a  Russian  princess  balks — things 
which  should  never  have  occurred.  She  is  beginning  to 
think  that  if  such  methods  are  necessary  to  preserve  auto- 
cratic government,  there  is  neither  honor  nor  object  in 
being  an  aristocrat.  I  think  she  has  the  impression  that 
Germany  will  never  make  any  concession  to  Russia  which 
hasn't  'a  string  to  it,'  as  we  say  in  the  States.  She  is  be- 
ginning to  doubt  that  the  national  interests  of  the  two 
countries  can  ever  be  compatible.  I  don't  think  so  my- 


326  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

self — but  that,  of  course,  is  none  of  ray  affair.  I'm  out 
for  Ireland — any  combination  that  will  defeat  England! 
The  Green  Circle  is  playing  my  game,  and  I'm  not  con- 
cerned with  its  application  to  Russia — we  have  troubles 
of  our  own."  (McMurtagh  offered  the  Grand  Duke  a 
cigar,  and  lighted  a  fresh  one  himself.  He  gave  the  im- 
pression of  discussing  an  abstract  matter  which  didn't  con- 
cern him.) 

"  H-m-m ;  how  dangerous  would  you  consider  her  ?  What 
course  is  she  likely  to  take?" 

"  Your  Highness  is  asking  a  question  which  no  man  has 
ever  been  wise  enough  to  answer,  concerning  an  intelligent 
woman.  Personally — I  would  about  as  soon  antagonize 
her  as  play  with  so  much  dynamite.  She  may  be  bluffing 
about  that  list  in  the  hands  of  her  executors — but  I  doubt 
it!  I  fancy  we're  all  safe  enough  from  any  action  of  here 
as  long  as  none  of  us  is  directly  implicated  in  something 
which  seriously  menaces  Russia's  future.  Let  her  learn 
that  some  of  the  Green  Circle  have  treacherously  betrayed 
the  country  into  an  overwhelming  disaster,  and  she's 
quite  capable  of  going  before  the  Duma  with  everything 
she  knows — but  if  you  do  nothing  worse  than  scheme  for 
delay  and  half-hearted  campaigning,  I  don't  think  we 
need  fear  anything  from  her.  She's  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting enigmas  I  ever  met — keeps  me  guessing  all  the  time !" 

Later  the  Honorable  Aloysius  was  passing  through  the 
long  Tudor  gallery  on  the  way  to  his  own  second-floor 
suite — rather  close  to  the  oak  wainscoting  of  the  solid  wall 
that  formed  the  side  opposite  the  windows — when  every 
light  in  the  sconces  was  suddenly  extinguished.  The 
moon  had  not  yet  risen,  so  that  the  darkness  was  impen- 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          327 

etrable.  As  he  stood  wondering  if  something  could  have 
happened  to  the  palace  dynamo  in  the  cellar,  there  was  a 
slight  click  in  the  wainscoting — a  faint  draft  of  air — and  a 
small  but  firm  hand  grasped  his  arm.  He  caught  a  barely 
audible  whisper,  close  to  his  ear: 

"Step  this  way — very  quietly.  Now  lift  your  foot  about 
eight  inches — don't  stumble  over  this  baseboard." 

As  he  was  being  led  along  a  narrow  passage  in  pitchy 
darkness,  there  was  a  faint  click  behind  them.  The  panel 
closed  in  the  wainscoting,  presenting  an  appearance  of 
solidity  that  would  have  deceived  any  one  examining  it 
from  the  gallery  side — particularly  as  it  was  backed  with 
four  inches  of  oak  and  would  have  given  back  no  hollow 
sound  if  rapped  upon. 

The  lights  in  the  gallery  sconces  flashed  up  again  just 
as  the  young  Baroness  opened  a  door  at  the  farther  end. 
Having  noticed  McMurtagh  going  in  that  direction  a  mo- 
ment before,  she  glanced  along  the  gallery  expecting  to 
see  him — but  decided  that  he  must  have  passed  through 
rather  briskly  to  his  own  suite,  which  happened  to  be  in 
the  same  wing  as  her  own,  though  his  windows  were  upon 
the  opposite  side,  where  she  had  no  glimpse  of  them. 

Meanwhile  the  Honorable  Aloysius  had  been  led 
around  several  turns  in  the  narrow  passage — evidently 
constructed  within  one  of  the  thicker  walls — until  a 
fresher  and  faintly  perfumed  atmosphere  told  him  they 
had  stepped  into  a  rather  spacious  room.  As  he  stood  in 
the  middle  of  it,  listening  intently  for  the  footsteps  of  his 
mysterious  guide,  three  incandescents  flashed  up  in  a  table- 
lamp  by  his  side — and  he  saw  that  he  was  in  a  private 
«tudy  of  the  Princess  Xenia's.  Through  an  open  door,  one 


328  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

dimly  made  out  a  bath  with  a  dressing  room  beyond  it. 
Around  the  walls  were  solidly  filled  bookshelves ;  between 
the  windows  stood  a  Flemish  highboy  used  as  a  writing- 
desk,  and  by  the  table  at  his  side  was  a  broad  divan  cov- 
ered with  a  magnificent  tiger  skin.  The  Princess  had 
seated  herself  upon  this — motioning  to  a  near-by  chair — 
but  he  coolly  sat  down  by  her  side  and  took  one  of  her 
hands  in  his  own.  The  color  flamed  into  her  face  as  she 
made  a  slight  attempt  to  withdraw  it. 

"Mon  ami — you  seem  to  forget  that  one  of  my  rank  is 
inviolable — not  to  be  touched!" 

Trevor  smiled  at  this. 

"And  you  evidently  haven't  learned  that,  to  a  man  of 
any  democratic  country,  a  princess  is  merely  such  a  woman 
as  his  sister  or  his  wife — her  only  sacredness  being  the 
fact  that  she  is  a  woman.  Respect  for  empty  rank  seems 
too  ridiculous  for  consideration.  Suppose  we  forget  it — 
and  go  into  your  object  in  bringing  me  here.  You  know 
better  than  I  whether  it's  safe  to  mention  political  affairs 
in  this  room." 

"The  walls  are  sound-proof — every  approach  to  it  is 
guarded  by  electric  appliances.  I  was  particular  about 
the  construction  of  this  place,  and  my  architect  was  a 
Frenchman  who  died  two  years  ago — he  brought  his  own 
force  of  workmen." 

She  was  looking  at  him  curiously,  with  scarcely  con- 
cealed wonder  and  admiration.  "Do  you  know,  man 
ami,  just  where  Rasputin  really  was  at  half  after  six  last 
evening?  " 

"Oh,  I'm  not  quite  stupid  enough  to  risk  my  life  upon 
the  sort  of  lie  which  a  dozen  people  may  expose  at  any  mo- 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  329 

ment !  At  six,  that  monk  was  in  the  house  I  described  to 
the  Grand  Duke  and  the  rest  of  them — disguising  himself 
in  the  uniform  of  a  Russian  admiral.  Fully  hah*  of  that 
great  beard  he  buttoned  inside  the  collar  of  his  uniform 
coat ;  that  big  mane  of  his  was  turned  up  and  covered  with 
a  wig  of  shorter  hair.  I'd  suspected  he  might  threaten 
you  for  reasons  of  his  own,  and  followed  him  for  two  hours 
— saw  him  drive  up  to  your  porte-cochere  in  a  stylish  limou- 
sine and  send  in  his  admiral's  card,  asking  for  an  immedi- 
ate interview.  Your  servants,  presumably,  didn't  recog- 
nize the  fellow  at  all.  You  were  already  in  the  secret  of 
OUT  plan  to  exile  him  that  night — so  had  little  fear  of  his 
threats.  But  I  went  back  and  met  him  near  that  house 
when  he  came  out  dressed  as  the  Countess's  chauffeur. 
He  must  have  had  a  rather  complete  wardrobe  of  disguises 
there — all  of  which  are  probably  in  General  Lipowski's 
possession  by  this  time.  If  any  of  the  Green  Circle  were 
in  the  habit  of  meeting  him  at  that  old  house,  they're 
pretty  sure  to  avoid  it  after  what  I  said  this  evening.  It 
was  my  description  of  the  place  which  made  the  state- 
ments appear  only  the  literal  truth — some  of  them  must 
have  known  the  building." 

"  M'sieur,  if  you  were  really  conscious  of  your  deadly 
personal  danger  in  the  hall,  this  evening,  you  are  a  brave 
man!  Now,  who — and  what — are  you?" 

"I  don't  think  I  quite  understand?" 

"Oh — yes — you — do,  mon  ami  I  You  understand  per- 
fectly! I  thought  at  the  time  that  the  assistance  you 
offered  us  in  getting  rid  of  that  moujik  was  rather  sur- 
prising— considering  your  affiliation  with  the  Green  Circle 
and  vour  coming  to  Petrograd  for  the  express  purpose 


330  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

of  cooperating  with  it.  It  was  natural  enough  for  any 
gentleman  to  be  disgusted  with  Rasputin,  to  put  him 
in  his  proper  place;  but  you  went  a  great  deal  further 
than  that.  To-night  you've  gone  all  the  way,  and  your 
life  wouldn't  be  worth  a  copper  kopeck  if  the  Green 
Circle  knew  what  I  know  about  you!  Stop  a  bit!  I 
remember  that  you  came  to  me  with  a  card  from  the  Earl 
of  Dyvnaint,  the  famous  Lord  Trevor!  Is  it  by  any 
chance  possible  that  you  are  a  member  of  the  English 
secret  service — in  Downing  Street?  That  would  account 
for  everything!" 

"Do  I  appear  to  be  the  political  mouchard,  Your  High- 
ness?" 

"Au  contraire,  you  have  the  manner  of  the  nobility. 
And  one  knows  the  diplomatic  service  is  an  honorable 
profession  which  includes  men  of  title  in  every  country." 

"But  I  am  an  American — nobility  isn't  one  of  our  na- 
tional institutions." 

"Possibly  you  were  born  in  America — but  you're  not 
an  American  of  the  present  day!  That  is  certain!" 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?  What's  your  idea  of  a 
Twentieth  Century  American?" 

"A  hybrid — a  mixture  of  European  dregs  with  a  bour- 
geois and  tradesman  class  which  has  forgotten  the  principles 
of  liberty — equality,  justice,  and  humanity — upon  which 
the  United  States  was  originally  founded!  Insulting — 
am  I  not?  And  yet — J  mean  no  insult!  The  whole 
world  is  dumbfounded  at  the  spectacle  of  a  national  pa- 
tience so  far  beyond  anything  human  that  it  submits  to  a 
hundred  outrages  that  would  have  meant  war  in  any  other 
nation!  America  permits  her  women  and  children  to  be 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          331 

murdered  upon  land  and  sea — her  ships  to  lie  rotting  in 
their  own  harbors  because  they  dare  not  sail — her  prop- 
erty to  be  dynamited — her  Government  used  as  a  cats- 
paw  by  a  military  despotism  which  will  assuredly  enslave 
her  if  it  subdues  Europe.  A  country  which  permits  Mex- 
ican bandits  to  ravish  its  women — invade  its  cities — spit 
upon  it!  Apparently,  the  old  breed  of  Americans  who 
won  their  country  from  England  in  the  Revolution  and 
preserved  its  unity  in  the  Civil  War  is  dead — and  has 
been  succeeded  by  something  vastly  different!  What 
else  are  we,  in  Europe,  to  believe  from  the  facts?" 

"There  are  a  few  of  the  old  breed  still  living  in  America, 
Your  Highness — and  they  'II  wipe  the  stains  from  our  good, 
old  Flag  in  a  way  that  will  mean  annihilation  to  every" 
thing  that  Germany  stands  for,  to-day  1  Give  us  just  a 
little  more  time!  Meanwhile  let  us  return  to  your  immed- 
iate purpose  with  me.  The  evidence  in  your  possession 
appears  to  indicate  that  I  may  be  working  against  the 
Green  Circle  instead  of  with  it.  Well,  it's  a  simple  mat- 
ter to  eliminate  my  activities;  the  merest  hint  from  you 
will  be  sufficient.  I  may  be  dead  within  the  hour — always, 
provided  you  are  right  in  your  surmise  concerning  me!" 

"  M'sieur,  by  what  you  said  this  evening  you  did  more 
to  disorganize  the  immediate  work  of  the  Green  Circle 
than  all  the  efforts  of  Serge  Lipowski's  police!  You 
planted  suspicion  in  the  very  heart  of  the  organization; 
there's  not  a  member  in  Petrograd  at  this  moment  who  is 
above  the  suspicions  of  his  fellow  members;  it  is  certain 
that  the  Grand  Duke  has  been  spreading  your  insinuations 
in  the  clubs  since  he  left  here!  It  was  the  sort  of  weapon 
Machiavelli  used  with  deadly  effect.  Now  comes  the 


332  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

question  as  to  whether  we  can  further  block  the  efforts  of 
the  Green  Circle — without  losing  our  lives  too  soon." 

"Then  Your  Highness  is  really  determined  to  work 
against  that  crowd?  As  a  loyal  Russian,  I  really  don't 
see  how  you  can  do  anything  else;  but  without  their  co- 
operation our  Irish  uprising  is  quite  impossible,  you  know! 
Major  Brady  and  I  need  them  in  our  business!" 

"  Enough,  my  friend !  You've  no  more  interest  in  Ire- 
land than  I.  You  need  fear  no  betrayal  from  me — even 
if  you  refuse  my  assistance.  It  seems,  however,  that  it 
might  prove  valuable,  in  various  ways." 

"For  example:  Could  you  invite  General  Ossipovitch 
to  be  your  guest  for  the  week-end — arriving  to-morrow 
evening  in  time  for  dinner?  I  mean — make  sure  of  his 
being  here — and  have  the  Grand  Duke  in  the  house  at  the 
same  time?  I'm  well  aware  of  your  detestation  for  the 
man." 

"Why — that  should  be  managed,  if  I  go  about  it  in- 
directly. Though  I  don't — quite — see — 

"I  was  told  in  London  that  the  active  chiefs  of  the  Green 
Circle  were  Count  Boris  Gazonoff  who  died  the  other  day, 
just  after  we'd  had  a  secret  conference  with  him — General 
Ivan  Ossipovitch,  who  has  taken  over  the  army  transpor- 
tation since  Gazonoff 's  death — and  Baron  Stellanovski, 
who  has  so  many  deputies  of  the  Duma  in  his  power,  one 
way  and  another,  that  he  almost  controls  it.  When  the 
Count  died,  it  upset  their  plans  a  good  deal.  You  say  I've 
been  fortunate  enough  to  do  a  little  more  in  that  direction. 
If  the  suspicions  of  other  Circle  members  can  be  definitely 
focussed  upon  General  Ossipovitch,  you  can  imagine  what 
may  happen  to  him  and  how  much  his  elimination  will  in- 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          333 

crease  the  muddle.  That  would  leave  only  Stellanovski, 
of  the  leaders;  probably  something  may  occur  to  us  in 
regard  to  him  as  we  go  along.  But — if  you  permit  me  to 
warn  Your  Highness — you  will  be  playing  with  death  at 
every  step,  and  you  have  far  more  to  lose  than  I.  Better 
consider  before  you  decide." 

There  was  a  winning  kindness  about  the  man  which  in- 
fluenced her  strongly,  and  an  impression  of  latent  force. 
Who  or  what  he  really  was  she  couldn't  decide,  but  that  he 
was  far  more  of  a  personage  than  he  chose  to  appear  seemed 
unquestionable.  In  her  level,  straightforward  glance  there 
was  an  expression  which  told  him  that  he  might  have 
taken  her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her  without  rebuke — but 
glancing  over  her  shoulder  at  that  moment,  it  seemed  to 
him  that  one  of  the  panels  in  the  dark  oak  wainscoting  had 
become  warped  by  the  heat  of  the  room  until  it  had  sprung 
back  half  an  inch  from  its  surrounding  moldings. 

A  quick  comparison  of  the  adjoining  panels  showed  no 
such  effect  in  any  of  them;  he  saw  that  it  must  be  the 
secret  door  by  which  she  had  brought  him  into  the  room. 
But  he  distinctly  remembered  the  click  of  a  spring-lock 
behind  them  when  she  was  turning  on  the  lights.  If,  by 
sheer  mischance,  someone  had  discovered  the  secret  of 
the  panel  in  the  gallery — had  crept  along  that  passage  to 
overhear  what  they  were  saying?  With  a  finger  upon  his 
lips,  he  stealthily  circled  the  wall  until,  without  making 
a  sound,  he  stood  beside  the  panel.  Suddenly  placing  his 
hand  flat  upon  it,  he  gave  a  powerful  shove  inward.  There 
was  a  sound  of  someone  falling  backward  upon  the  floor  of 
the  passage.  Before  the  man  could  struggle  up,  Trevor  was 
upon  him — wrenching  a  knife  from  one  hand  and  dragging 


334  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

a  revolver  from  his  pocket.  Then — with  a  strength  which 
his  appearance  failed  to  indicate — he  thrust  the  spy  into 
the  room,  handed  the  revolver  to  the  Princess,  that  she 
might  cover  him,  and  searched  the  passage  for  possible 
companions. 

When  th&Baroness  Mourakoff  went  through  the  long  gal- 
lery on  the  way  to  her  rooms,  she  met  Count  Stefen  Griin- 
wald  standing  behind  the  portiere  at  the  farther  end,  and 
asked  him  if  he  had  just  seen  McMurtagh — which  he  ap- 
parently had  not.  Count  Stefan  was  also  of  the  Green 
Circle — but,  unlike  many  of  his  Russian  associates,  was 
influenced  by  a  personal  animus  which  made  him  push  its 
work  in  deadly  earnest.  His  father,  a  Berliner,  had  been  a 
resident  of  Petrograd  for  many  years,  having  married  a 
Russian  lady  of  his  own  rank  and  possessed  of  large  estates 
which  necessitated  their  residence  in  Russia  to  look  after 
them.  But  he  had  been  educated  at  Prussian  universities 
and  had  always  fraternized  with  his  German  relatives  more 
than  with  those  of  his  mother's  family. 

He  had  opened  the  door  at  the  end  of  the  gallery  just  as 
the  lights  went  out,  and  had  an  indistinct  impression  of 
seeing  a  man's  figure  near  the  wainscoting  a  second  be- 
fore. When  the  current  was  turned  on  again,  he  saw  the 
Baroness  coming  along  the  gallery — but  the  man  was  no- 
where in  sight.  He  certainly  had  not  passed  him — and  her 
inquiry  revealed  his  identity.  Griinwald  had  been  one  of 
these  who  were  most  suspicious  of  the  Honorable  Aloy- 
sius  during  the  talk  in  the  big  hall;  and  in  spite  of  that 
gentleman's  plausibility,  had  not  been  entirely  satisfied. 
Walking  slowly  along  by  the  wainscoting,  he  stopped  at 
the  spot  where  he  had  seen  McMurtagh  standing. 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          335 

Griinwald  was  slow-witted — but  painstaking  and  re- 
lentless, once  he  started  upon  the  track  of  anything;  so 
be  began  by  trying  to  imagine  where  he  would  have  con- 
cealed the  spring  if  he  had  been  a  carpenter  constructing  a 
secret  door.  His  first  guess  was  somewhere  under  the 
molding  of  the  baseboard — but  his  fingers  ran  along  it  for 
several  feet  without  finding  anything.  He  tried  the  up- 
per molding,  with  the  same  result.  Then  he  fell  to  study- 
ing the  carved  foliage  upon  the  panefe  themselves.  It  was 
close  to  one  in  the  morning — nobody  happened  to  come 
through  the  gallery.  Suddenly  one  of  the  panels  swung 
inward  before  him,  without  his  knowing  just  what  he  had 
touched  to  release  the  spring.  With  a  quick  glance  to  be 
sure  he  was  unobserved,  he  stepped  through — gently 
closing  the  panel  behind  him. 

When  Trevor  had  satisfied  himself  that  the  fellow  had 
no  accomplice  hidden  in  the  passage,  he  returned  to  Xenia's 
study,  where  she  was  lounging  on  the  divan — the  revolver 
upon  her  knee,  covering  the  Count,  who  sat  composedly 
in  a  near-by  chair.  The  supposed  Irish-American  quietly 
dropped  into  his  former  place  on  the  divan — by  the  Prin- 
cess. But  for  the  blue-black  revolver,  one  might  have 
supposed  them  in  the  midst  of  a  friendly  chat — but  there 
was  a  tenseness  in  the  atmosphere  which  made  the  Count 
vaguely  uneasy.  Of  course,  it  was  ridiculous  to  suppose 
for  a  moment  they  would  do  him  bodily  harm — when  he 
explained  how  mere  curiosity  had  led  him  to  investigate 
the  secret  panel  and  see  where  the  passage  led  to!  The 
Green  Circle  was  too  dangerous  an  organization  to  antag- 
onize— his  standing  in  it  was  too  well  known  to  the  other 
members.  As  the  seconds  ticked  away  with  the  silence 


336  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

still  unbroken,  a  chill  gradually  took  possession  of  him. 
It  was  impossible  that  anything  serious  could  happen, 
but — suddenly,  he  broke  out  in  a  voluble  explanation  of 
just  how  he  happened  to  explore  the  passage. 

"Of  course,  Your  Highness  will  understand  I  am  most 
discreet — always !  One  has  one's  own  little  affairs  under  the 
rose — I  thought  that  passage  must  have  been  constructed 
when  this  old  palace  was  built — before  Your  Highness 
purchased  it.  Was  not  even  aware  that  you  knew  of  it — 
idle  curiosity — romantic  sort  of  contrivance,  you  know — 
that  sort  of  thing!  Most  indiscreet  of  me — oh,  I  grant 
you  that!  Offer  a  thousand  apologies!  Will  consider 
that  I  dreamed  all  this — and  forget  it." 

Trevor's  low  voice  cut  into  his  halting  explanations  like 
a  knife  through  paper: 

"Count,  you  and  I  are  on  opposite  sides — enemies  to 
the  death.  We  are  neither  of  us  in  the  trenches — because 
what  we  do  affects  thousands  where  the  man  on  the  firing- 
line  accounts  for  but  a  score  or  two.  And  for  that  reason 
we  neither  give  nor  expect  quarter.  If  we  let  you  go,  it 
means  death  to  the  Princess,  death  to  me,  calamity  for 
Russia,  and  reverses  for  the  Entente — no  matter  what 
promises  you  may  give  us.  You  wish  us  to  believe  that 
you  heard  nothing  of  what  we  said  in  this  room — hmph! 
A  man  would  take  his  medicine  without  trying  to  lie  out 
of  it,  the  facts  being  so  clearly  against  him!  Well,  we 
must  get  this  over  with !  It's  after  one  in  the  morning.  I 
have  in  my  pocket  two  cigars  of  excellent  flavor.  One  of 
them  is  practically  certain  death  to  the  man  who  smokes 
it — particularly  if  his  heart  is  a  bit  weak.  They  are  iden- 
tical in  appearance.  I  will  lay  them  on  the  table  here,  and 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  337 

we  '11  turn  our  backs  while  Her  Highness  shifts  their  rela- 
tive positions  a  few  times.  Then  we  '11  each  light  one  and 
smoke  it.  If  I  die,  I  don 't  think  you've  nerve  enough  to 
harm  the  Princess— with  that  list  of  names  in  the  hands  of 
her  executors.  In  fact,  it's  a  hundred  to  one  against  the 
Circle's  permitting  you  to  do  so.  Now— Your  Highness 
— if  you  will  oblige?" 

Every  particle  of  color  had  left  her  face,  but  her  hand 
was  fairly  steady  as  she  altered  the  position  of  the  cigars 
while  their  backs  were  turned.  As  the  Count  took  one,  he 
was  ghastly — trembling  so  violently  that  he  could  scarcely 
cut  the  tip  from  the  cigar  he  had  chosen.  Trevor  held  the 
match  for  him  to  light  it — and  Xenia  noticed  that  there 
was  not  the  slightest  vibration  in  the  flame.  He  was  even 
smiling  as  he  struck  another  for  his  own  cigar. 

"I  suppose  one  gets  a  more  immediately  fatal  effect  of 
the  drug  in  this  tobacco  if  it  is  smoked  quite  rapidly.  But 
a  man  dies  but  once — I  prefer  to  analyze  my  sensations. 
So  I  shall  try  to  prolong  them  until  I  feel  myself  going." 

A  minute  passed  in  absolute  silence — two — five !  Whe- 
ther from  sheer  terror  at  the  prospect  of  relentlessly  ap- 
proaching death,  or  from  the  nerve-paralysis  of  unusually 
strong  tobacco,  Count  Stefan's  breathing  had  grown 
more  laborious;  he  was  gasping  as  he  struggled  to  smoke 
the  cigar  down  and  have  it  over  with.  It  was  gruesome 
for  any  onlooker — much  more,  a  woman — but  the  Prin- 
cess sat  there  as  if  carved  in  marble,  her  eyes  never  leav- 
ing Trevor's  face.  The  other's  suffering  she  didn't  even 
notice. 

Finally,  with  a  little  choking  exclamation,  Griinwald 
dropped  his  cigar  and  began  tearing  at  his  collar.  Before 


838  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

he  could  rip  it  loose,  he  staggered  to  his  feet  and  tried  to 
reach  the  window — pitching  headlong  on  the  floor  before 
he  had  covered  half  the  distance.  There  were  a  few  con- 
vulsive shivers;  then  he  lay  there  motionless.  In  a  mo- 
ment or  two  Earl  Trevor  knelt  beside  him  and  unbut- 
toned his  waistcoat;  there  was  no  beating  of  the  heart. 
Taking  a  hand-mirror  from  the  Flemish  highboy,  he  held 
it  over  the  man's  lips  for  two  or  three  minutes — there  was 
no  sign  of  moisture.  He  got  upon  his  feet,  shoved  both 
hands  deep  into  his  trousers  pockets,  and  went  back  to 
stand  reflectively  before  the  Princess. 

"I'm  wondering  what  would  have  happened  if  it  had 
been  I."  (Her  lips  trembled  for  the  first  time — the  beauti- 
ful eyes  filled.) 

"Thank  God  it  was  not!  I  should  have  killed  him — • 
and  then  myself,  I  think!  This  is  the  first  time  I  ever 
saw  a  man  look  death  in  the  face — and  smile!  I  love 
you  for  that,  mon  ami  /" 

Placing  her  hands  gently  upon  his  shoulders,  she  raised 
her  lips  to  his. 

With  his  arm  about  her,  Trevor  looked  down  reflectively 
at  the  dead  man. 

"Xenia,  that  was  the  strangest  experiment  in  psy- 
chology I  ever  saw!  I  have  in  my  possession  a  few  cigars 
which  are  deadly.  But  these  two  were  only  pure  Havana 
•  maduros,  worth  two  roubles  each — about  the  strongest 
made.  You  notice  I  smoked  but  little  more  than  an  inch 
of  mine;  yet  I  can  feel  it  in  every  nerve.  Now,  three 
nights  ago,  my  attention  was  attracted  to  the  brilliant 
red  spot  in  the  centre  of  the  Count's  cheeks.  I  saw  he  was 
a  heavy  eater  of  rich  food,  and  that  he  drank  a  good  deal 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          339 

of  wine  with  it.  I  noticed  the  amount  and  appearance  of 
his  flesh — also  the  condition  of  his  nerves.  Put  the  man 
in  the  trenches,  and  he'd  possibly  fight  like  a  cornered 
rat — in  a  frenzy  of  fear.  With  death  at  his  elbow  in  a  less 
violent  form,  he  proved  the  yellow  coward  he  really  was. 
The  man  simply  couldn't  be  allowed  to  live.  With  what 
he  overheard  in  that  passage,  he  was  a  menace  to  the  whole 
Entente.  But  it  goes  against  the  grain  to  kill  even  a 
coward  in  cold  blood — so  I  figured  his  weak  heart  would 
settle  him  just  as  effectively  from  sheer  fright." 

"You — you  would  have  smoked  that  cigar  of  his — clear 
through — if  he  had  happened  to  choose  yours?" 

"Of  course!  I  was  bound  in  honor  to  smoke  as  long 
as  he  did,  even  though  it  would  have  made  my  nerves 
jumpy  for  two  or  three  days.  And  if  there  was  anything 
the  matter  with  my  heart,  it  might  have  carried  me  off, 
I  dare  say.  Hmph!  Wonder  what  we'd  best  do  with 
him?  Fancy  the  safest  plan  is  to  carry  the  body  through 
that  passage  and  lay  it  down  in  the  long  gallery,  as  if  he 
had  fallen  there  from  a  sudden  attack  of  heart  disease. 
H-m-m — if  one  could  be  sure  that  some  of  the  Green  Cir- 
cle would  find  the  body  before  your  servants,  I'd  put  a 
paper  in  one  of  his  pockets  that  would  arouse  still  more 
suspicion  throughout  the  organization!" 

As  it  happened,  the  body  was  found  by  a  crony  of  the 
Grand  Duke's  coming  up  to  bed  from  the  billiard-room 
at  half -past  two  in  the  morning.  Very  much  worried  over1 
the  possibility  of  being  implicated  in  a  murder,  he  aroused 
the  other  members  of  the  Circle  and  fetched  them  into 
the  gallery  before  touching  the  body.  Finding  no  wound 
or  evidence  of  violent  death,  they  carried  it  along  to  the 


340  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Count's  own  room,  where  they  searched  his  pockets  after 
sending  his  valet  to  'phone  for  a  physician.  A  letter 
which  they  found  among  his  other  papers,  with  the  ink  less 
than  a  day  old,  caused  the  assassination  of  two  men  prom- 
inent in  the  Council  of  the  Empire  a  week  later.  As  for 
Griinwald's  sudden  taking-off,  the  doctors  pronounced  it 
unquestionably  a  case  of  heart  disease.  After  the  Baron- 
ess mentioned  his  acting  queerly  when  she  met  him  in  the 
gallery  on  the  previous  night,  there  was  never  a  suspicion 
connecting  any  one  with  the  case. 

That  afternoon  Earl  Trevor  (hi  whom  nobody  would 
have  recognized  the  Honorable  Aloysius)  motored  from 
the  British  Embassy,  where  he  was  staying,  to  the  house 
of  the  Countess  Wirdovski  in  time  for  afternoon  tea. 
Before  leaving,  a  conference  was  managed  with  General 
Serge  Lipowski,  who  also  had  dropped  in  to  pay  his 
respects.  As  it  was  advisable  that  Lipowski's  call  upon 
the  Countess  should  be  a  brief  one,  the  Earl  got  down  to 
business  without  loss  of  time. 

"  General,  is  the  Grand  Duke  Feodor  familiar  with  your 
handwriting?  Sufficiently  to  identify  it  if  only  initialled 
by  way  of  signature?" 

"Hmph!  He  should  recognize  it — he's  had  occasional 
i-O-U'S  for  my  losses  at  the  club!  If  that  is  a  requisite 
in  some  plan  your  Downing  Street  men  are  trying  to  put 
through,  you're  in  luck,  because  I'm  obliged  to  be  exceed- 
ingly careful  that  my  handwriting  is  not  too  well  known  in 
Petrograd !  What 's  up  ?  My  secret  police  report  that  the 
reactionaries  in  both  the  Council  and  the  Duma  appear  to 
be  quarreling  among  themselves — rather  bitterly.  Do 
you  know  anything  about  it?" 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION  341 

"Well,  it  won't  surprise  me  if  you  are  busy  over  the 
killing  of  some  rather  prominent  men  before  long.  Our 
agents  are  doing  what  they  can — and  seem  to  be  having 
more  luck  than  we  dared  hope  when  we  came  from  Eng- 
land. However,  they  may  be  wiped  out  in  the  very  act 
of  scoring  an  important  coup." 

"Let  us  hope  not!  Russia  owes  you  gentlemen  a  pretty 
heavy  debt  already — which  goes  to  show  that  outsiders 
sometimes  accomplish  what  we  find  impossible  from  our 
intimate  relations  with  the  people  here.  Now,  what  about 
this  writing  of  mine?" 

His  Lordship  handed  Lipowski  a  memorandum  which 
the  General  read  hi  a  puzzled  way: 

"Concerning  the  Siberian  munition  trains,  you  will  pro- 
ceed with  the  arrangements  originally  contemplated.  Your 
agents  will  shunt  the  trains  at  the  junctions  agreed  upon 
and  proceed  as  if  nothing  had  been  changed.  If  this  is 
done,  my  men  can  make  no  mistake  when  they  act.  We 
will  see  that  the  shunted  trains  contain  nothing  but  scrap- 
iron  or  sand  in  barrels,  and  that  the  needed  supplies  get 
to  the  front  over  other  lines.  S.  L." 

"I  infer  that  you  want  me  to  write  this  upon  a  half- 
sheet  of  note-paper — as  if  it  had  been  torn  from  the  first 
part  of  a  letter;  but  I  don't  quite  see  what  good  it  is  going 

to  do  your  men " 

"Suppose  that  scrap  is  dropped  from  the  pocket  of  some- 
one very  prominent  in  the  Army  Transportation  Depart- 
ment (I'll  carefully  heat  it  to  age  the  ink)  and  is  picked 
up  by  the  Grand  Duke?" 

"You  mean Great  heaven!     Is  Feodor  Feodoro- 

vitch  conspiring  against  his  own  country?'* 


342  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"Just  for  a  basis  of  argument,  suppose  he  is — and  picks 
up  that  scrap — eh?" 

"My  friend,  I  thought  we'd  borrowed  a  few  hints  in 
obliquity  from  the  Orientals,  but  I'm  really  not  in  your 
class !  (Here — let  me  sit  down  and  write  this  out !)  Saints 
preserve  us !  Where's  the  sense  in  arresting  and  executing 
people  when  you  can  make  them  kill  each  other?  I'll 
give  you  fifty  thousand  roubles  if  you  '11  tell  me  ho w~  to  be 
sure  enough  of  my  facts  to  attempt  this  sort  of  thing  with 
any  certainty  of  success!" 

That  evening  General  Ivan  Ossipovitch,  Acting  Chief  of 
the  Army  Transportation  Department,  arrived  with  his 
valet  at  the  Tarazine  Palace  in  time  for  dinner.  With  the 
Princess  Xenia,  Baroness  Mourakoff,  and  the  Honorable 
Aloysius,  he  afterward  motored  in  to  see  the  Russian  Ballet 
at  the  Thedtre  Marie — the  Grand  Duke  Feodor  joining 
them  before  the  end  of  the  performance  and  returning  with 
the  party  to  the  palace  on  the  Kamennoi  Ostrow.  There 
was  the  usual  midnight  supper,  with  an  adjournment  to 
the  great  hall  of  the  palace  for  cigarettes  and  tea.  General 
Ossipovitch  had  been  carrying  on  a  lively  conversation 
with  the  Baroness  Sophie  in  the  dining  room — and  con- 
tinued it  in  the  big  hall.  Just  as  the  Honorable  Aloysius 
passed  behind  their  divan  to  pour  another  cup  of  tea 
from  the  samovar,  Xenia  called  to  the  General — who 
struggled  to  his  feet  and  waddled  over  to  her.  On  the 
divan  where  he  had  been  sitting  lay  a  crumpled  scrap  of 
paper.  Picking  it  up,  the  Baroness  was  evidently  think- 
ing of  returning  it  to  Ossipovitch,  when  McMurtagh  sat 
down  by  her  with  the  cup  of  steaming  tea. 

"Love     letters?    Baroness!     Baroness!     It's     myself 


THE  BREEDING  OF  SUSPICION          343 

that's  sad,  the  night!  Will  you  be  telling  me  the  name  of 
the  lucky  man  till  I  call  him  out?  " 

Somehow  it  seemed  to  her  that  there  was  a  meaning 
look  in  the  Irish- American's  face — a  subtle  warning  against 
what  she  was  about  to  do.  As  she  refused  the  tea,  he 
laughingly  went  over  to  join  the  Grand  Duke — making 
some  remark  in  a  low  tone  before  passing  on.  In  a  mo- 
ment Feodor  sauntered  over  and  sat  down  by  the  Ejaron- 
ess,  who,  in  spite  of  her  repugnance  to  that  sort  of  thing, 
had  stolen  a  look  at  the  scrap  of  paper.  Presently  she 
handed  it  to  him — behind  her  fan — explaining  that  it 
must  have  dropped  out  of  Ossipovitch's  pocket. 

Three  nights  later  General  Ossipovitch  was  fatally  shot 
by  two  unknown  men  who  had  somehow  disposed  of  the 
chauffeur  while  his  car  was  waiting  outside  the  house  of  a 
lady  upon  whom  he  was  calling. 

Next  day  General  Lipowski  learned  through  his  secret 
channels  that  the  Honorable  Aloysius  McMurtagh — 
whom  he  knew  only  as  a  brilliant  secret  service  agent  from 
Downing  Street — had  become  exceedingly  popular  with 
the  reactionaries  and  the  pro-German  party — a  man  whose 
growing  influence  was  most  surprising  in  a  mere,  transient 
visitor.  And  Lipowski  chuckled. 


CHAPTER  XI 

CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION 

IN  THE  safety  vaults  of  Downing  Street  there  are 
files  of  documents  relating  to  many  of  the  diplo- 
matic coups  in  which  British  secret  agents  have 
been  engaged — with  a  few  exceptions,  where  the  existence 
of  a  record  would  constantly  menace  the  lives  of  men  too 
valuable  to  endanger.  Very  few  exploits  of  England's 
Diplomatic  Free  Lance  are  recorded  in  these  files,  because 
a  comparison  of  dates  and  places  might  suggest  clues  to  the 
man's  identity  in  the  mind  of  some  under  secretary  or 
clerk  who  happened  upon  them.  And,  some  day,  a  casual 
remark  in  the  Foreign  Office  might  set  other  men  thinking. 
Conclusions  would  be  drawn;  there  would  be  more  or  less 
whispered  conjecture  in  the  Department;  eventually  the 
identity  of  the  celebrity  would  be  disclosed. 

The  events  leading  up  to  the  Russian  Revolution,  how- 
ever, were  so  intricate — an  account  of  them  so  necessary  to 
a  proper  understanding  of  subsequent  conditions  in  Petro- 
grad — that  one  of  the  confidential  stenographers  took 
down  the  informal  narrative  of  the  officer  commanding 
the  British  Secret  Service  men  in  that  city  just  as  it  was 
given  to  the  Foreign  Secretary — the  account  covering  not 
only  his  personal  experiences  but  such  additional  informa- 
tion as  he  had  obtained  from  Earl  Trevor  and  Baron 
Lammerford — who  were  then  staying  at  the  British  Em- 

8M 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          345 

bassy  in  Petrograd — and  three  agents,  acting  under  their 
orders.  The  typewritten  sheets  bear  the  endorsement: 
"Notes  from  the  statements  of  Capt.  Eversley  Creighton 
— th  Hussars  ("F.  0. 143")  during  a  private  interview  with 
the  Rt.  Hon.  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
May  3,  1917" — and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  arrange 
them  in  official  form,  the  narrative  commencing  as  follows; 

"Although  we  had  been  securing  a  mass  of  information 
which  neither  Berlin  nor  the  Russian  Government  dreamed 
of  our  having,  concerning  the  German  intrigue  in  Petro- 
grad, it  was  understood  at  the  British  Embassy  that  the 
situation  was  calling,  more  and  more  insistently,  for  a 
wider  diplomatic  experience  than  mine  or  any  of  the  men 
under  me — a  super-intelligence  capable  of  understanding 
the  probable  ramifications  of  a  plot  merely  from  the 
character  or  antecedents  of  some  individual  connected  with 
it.  This  became  evident  in  October  and  November. 
Consequently,  we  were  jolly  well  bucked  up  when  His 
Lordship  of  Dyvnaint — the  famous  Admiral,  Earl  Trevor 
— arrived  in  Petrograd  on  E-69  with  Baron  Lammerford, 
who  was  Dean  of  the  King's  Messengers  in  the  old  days 
before  I  joined  the  Service. 

"They  took  up  quarters  at  the  Embassy  for  obvious 
reasons — it  was  the  one  place  in  Petrograd  where  we  might 
confer  with  them  privately  without  having  every  word 
reported  by  General  Serge  Lipowski's  Russian  Police. 
(The  Duma  people  burned  the  Prefecture  before  I  left, 
and  fancied  they  destroyed  all  of  the  documental  secret 
information  collected  there  for  years — but  the  old  fox  had 
removed  every  paper  of  real  value  before  they  got  to  him.) 


346  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"At  the  time  of  His  Lordship's  arrival,  we  were  told  that 
he  had  brought  with  him  in  the  submarine  three  of  the 
most  brilliant  men  in  the  service — who  were  remaining 
aboard  E-69,  out  in  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  until  such 
time  as  they  could  be  introduced  to  General  Lipowski  in 
some  agreed-upon  disguises,  and  receive  the  cooperation 
of  his  secret  police.  During  the  next  fortnight  we  met  all 
three  of  them  in  their  assumed  characters  and  they  were 
so  jolly  good  at  that  sort  of  thing — such  beautiful  linguists 
— that  I  fancy  I  shouldn  't  recognize  any  of  them  inLondon 
if  they  were  introduced  to  me  as  they  really  are. 

"The  chap  with  whom  I  came  most  frequently  in  contact, 
and  with  whom  I  esteem  it  an  honor  to  have  worked, 
appeared  in  Petrograd  as  Major  Michael  Brady — a  Dub- 
lin Sinn  Feiner  who  knew  the  city  very  well  and  had  come 
there  to  secure  cooperation  from  the  pro-German  element 
in  a  coup  that  would  be  simultaneous  with  another  uprising 
in  Ireland.  His  companion  was  supposed  to  be  an  Irish- 
American  capitalist,  the  Hon.  Aloysius  McMurtagh.  The 
third  man  was  made  up  as  an  oriental  valet  of  McMur- 
tagh 's  so  jolly  well  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
suspect  him  of  being  English.  I  fancied  that  he  might  be 
Sir  Abdool  Mohammed  Khan,  G.  C.  S.  I.,  the  Afghan 
prince  who  also  accompanied  Earl  Trevor — but  the  valet 
was  at  least  two  inches  shorter,  and  Sir  Abdool  was  pres- 
ent at  several  public  receptions  when  both  McMurtagh 
and  his  man  were  known  to  be  at  the  Tarazine  Palace. 

"The  German  secret  organizations  in  Petrograd  are 
known  among  the  reactionaries  as  the  Green  Circle  and 
Ccemartila.  Any  open  discussion  of  their  work  or  objects 
is  quite  likely  to  be  fatal — has  been  fatal  in  many  cases. 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  347 

We  had  obtained  evidence  which  seemingly  connected 
General  Ivan  Ossipovitch  with  it,  but  were  by  no  means 
positive.  In  some  deuced  clever  manner  Brady  and  Mc- 
Murtagh  had  obtained  credentials  associating  them  with 
the  organization  before  coming  to  Petrograd — so  they 
had  the  advantage  of  us  from  the  start.  Before  they  had 
been  in  the  city  a  week  they  spotted  Count  Boris  Gazon- 
off,  General  Ossipovitch,  Baron  Alexis  Stellanovski,  and 
the  monk  Rasputin  as  the  real  leaders  of  the  Green  Circle. 
Count  Gazonoff  died  of  heart  disease  just  after  an  inter- 
view with  them  yet  I  am  positive  none  of  the  Russians 
has  seen  anything  suspicious  in  his  death.  Rasputin  was 
shot  by  a  woman  in  the  grounds  of  Prince  Kussupoff's 
palace,  as  all  the  world  knows.  General  Ossipovitch  was 
shot  by  two  members  of  the  Green  Circle  one  night  in  his 
own  limousine — just  after  he  had  taken  over  the  Army 
Transportation  Department.  This  left  only  Stellanovski, 
of  the  original  four  leaders. 

"During  this  time,  McMurtagh  had  been  a  guest  of  the 
Princess  Xenia  in  her  palace  on  the  Kamennoi  Ostrow, 
and,  for  the  last  two  weeks  of  it,  Major  Brady  had  been  a 
house-guest  of  the  Baron's.  From  what  we  picked  up 
outside,  they  must  have  done  something  which  not  only 
proved  their  loyalty  to  the  Green  Circle  but  made  them 
exceedingly  popular  with  every  German  sympathizer  in 
the  city.  Of  course,  their  lives  would  not  have  been  worth 
a  brass  farthing  had  suspicion  been  aroused  connecting 
them  with  those  three  deaths — which  came  most  oppor- 
tunely for  the  Entente,  I  can  assure  you.  In  fact,  the 
revolution  would  have  been  impossible  while  those  four 
men  lived. 


348  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

"The  whole  winter  had  been  a  succession  of  alternating 
premiers  and  foreign  secretaries.  First  a  Liberal  Pro- 
gressive ministry  and  Russian  success  on  the  eastern  front 
— then  resignations,  a  pro-German  ministry,  a  mess  of 
Rasputin  court  intrigue — Russian  and  Roumanian  re- 
verses from  lack  of  munitions  and  support.  A  dozen 
times  the  situation  looked  hopeless  to  us  in  spite  of  any- 
thing which  could  be  done.  Miliukoff,  the  strongest  leader 
in  the  Duma,  we  had  to  sneak  away  from  his  house  in  a 
limousine  one  night  and  get  him  aboard  our  submarine — 
to  save  his  life.  Agents  of  the  Green  Circle  were  combing 
the  city  for  him  with  positive  orders  that  he  must  be  killed 
before  morning. 

"  McMurtagh  had  me  invited,  two  or  three  evenings,  to 
the  Tarazine  Palace — where  I  heard  German  plans  so 
openly  discussed  that  a  separate  peace  with  Berlin  seemed 
to  me  only  a  matter  of  weeks,  though  the  Princess  Xenia 
showed  a  contempt  for  the  Green  Cricle  which  made  me 
fear  they  'd  murder  her.  But  it  was  not  until  Baron  Stella- 
novski,  at  Brady 's  suggestion,  had  me  spend  a  few  nights 
at  his  big  house  on  the  Aptekarsky  that  I  got  into  the  real 
game  and  had  a  chance  to  study  the  inner  workings  of  the 
most  amazing  intrigue  which  has  ever  throttled  the  Gov- 
ernment of  a  great  nation. 

"I  had  known  the  Baron  as  head  of  a  prominent  bank- 
ing-house on  the  Nevski,  with  branches  in  most  of  the 
world 's  capitals,  and  by  jolly  good  luck  our  acquaintance 
had  begun  in  a  way  that  made  him  suppose  me  a  Wilhelm- 
strasse  spy.  Last  fall  a  Captain  Gregorio  Czechzin,  of 
the  Serbian  Signal  Corps,  came  to  Petrograd  with  funds  to 
put  up  a  high-powered  radio  station  in  the  suburbs  for 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          349 

communication  across  the  Carpathians  and  Balkans.  For 
a  week,  he  tried  to  get  a  little  cooperation  from  the  Min- 
ister of  War — but  something  blocked  him  at  every  step. 
Then  I  found  him  in  front  of  his  lodgings,  one  night,  just 
after  he  had  been  shot.  I  carried  him  up  to  his  room.  He 
had  guessed  that  I  was  a  secret  agent  for  one  of  the  Entente 
powers — was  so  positive  of  it  that  he  told  me  where  to  dig 
out  his  papers,  from  under  a  loose  board,  and  whispered 
the  key  of  the  Serbian  wireless  code  just  before  he  died. 

"Czechzin  was  about  my  own  height,  build,  and  com- 
plexion. The  idea  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  be  able 
to  impersonate  him  if  J.  could  forge  his  signature  well 
enough  to  pass  at  Baron  Stellanovski's  bank — upon  which 
his  Serbian  drafts  had  been  made  out.  I  found  two  of  our 
men — returned  to  his  room — lowered  the  body  out  of  a 
rear  window,  and  managed  to  get  it  away  in  a  touring-car 
without  being  caught.  Then  I  made  myself  up  in  the 
Captain's  uniform  and  went  to  call  upon  Stuermer,  after- 
ward premier — knowing  him  to  be  strongly  pro-German. 
The  color  went  out  of  his  face  when  he  looked  at  my  card; 
you  see,  the  Green  Circle  had  told  him  I  was  dead  and  out 
of  the  way. 

"I  confessed  to  him  that  Czechzin  really  was  dead,  and 
that  I  was  from  Berlin — suggesting  that  the  proposed 
wireless  station,  with  me  impersonating  the  Serbian  in 
charge  of  it,  might  be  an  excellent  thing  for  WUhelm- 
strasse  in  the  way  of  intercepting  information  and  fur- 
thering the  work  of  his  organization.  He  saw  the  point 
at  once — said  my  drafts  would  be  honored  at  Stella- 
novski's bank  even  if  the  indorsements  did  look  a  bit  queer, 
and  was  immensely  pleased  with  my  proposition.  With 


850  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

such  backing  the  radio  station  was  ready  to  operate  in  a 
very  short  time.  I  opened  up  communication  with  Sa- 
loniki  and  Bucharest,  giving  the  messages  only  to  officers 
or  statesmen  whom  we  knew  were  loyal  to  Russia.  For 
Stuermer  and  his  crowd  I  cooked  up  messages  which 
seemed  to  them  of  great  importance,  but  concerning  which 
the  Entente  was  fully  posted  before  they  got  them.  So 
when  Major  Brady  suggested  the  Baron's  having  me  as  a 
house-guest  in  order  to  meet  and  confer  with  some  of  the 
Green  Circle  people,  Stellanovski  thought  himself  quite  well 
aware  of  my  real  identity  and  interests  as  a  Wilhelmstrasse 
man — was  under  supposed  obligations  to  me,  in  fact. 
And  his  invitation  was  a  cordial  one.  They  needed  me 
in  their  business. 

"The  Baron 's  house  was  managed  by  a  niece  whose 
mother  had  married  a  Berliner.  Returning  to  Petrograd 
after  the  death  of  her  parents,  to  manage  property  left 
by  her  mother,  she  had  naturally  taken  up  residence  with 
her  bachelor  uncle.  There  was  a  large  retinue  of  servants 
besides  two  private  secretaries  and  three  Green  Circle 
people  employed  in  clerical  work;  but  seldom  more  than 
two  or  three  house-guests  at  any  one  time.  Fraulein 
Olga  had  too  much  of  the  Prussian  domineering  in  her 
make-up  to  be  popular  with  either  men  or  women,  so 
that  people  invited  to  stay  in  the  house  were  almost  inva- 
riably friends  of  Stellanovski  rather  than  his  niece.  One 
infers  that  she  was  an  excellent  housekeeper,  and  I  happen 
to  know  something  of  her  capacity  for  intrigue.  It  was 
altogether  cold-blooded,  for — though  rather  a  handsome 
woman — she  hadn't  the  least  personal  charm.  But  she 
was  a  shrewd  reader  of  character,  an  exceptional  linguist, 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  351 

and  had  a  gift  for  scientific  deduction  which  made  her  a 
holy  terror  when  a  man  of  Stellanovski's  brains  used  it 
as  he  did.  For  example : 

"The  evening  of  my  arrival  one  of  the  deputies  from  a 
central  Asiatic  province  was  dining  there,  accompanied 
by  his  wife — a  simple-minded  woman  who  knew  too  much 
of  her  husband's  everyday  life,  and  thought  she  was  fur- 
thering his  interests  by  talking  about  it  when  in  the  com- 
pany of  those  she  considered  influential.  After  they  left, 
Olga  came  to  her  uncle  in  his  private  study,  where  the 
Major  and  I  were  smoking  with  him,  and  dryly  gave  us  the 
gist  of  what  she  had  wormed  out  of  them  without  asking 
a  single  direct  question: 

"*Karatoff  has  struck  indications  of  oil  on  se>me  of  his 
land,  but  has  no  money  to  bore  for  it  or  handle  the  quan- 
tity he  thinks  there  is  eight  hundred  feet  down.  He 
won't  form  a  development  company,  because  it  would  cut 
his  profits  in  hah*.  Is  looking  for  somebody  who'll 
lend  him  a  hundred  thousand  roubles,  with  a  mortgage 
as  security,  but  admits  that  the  only  portion  of  his  land 
he's  willing  to  pledge  isn't  worth  that.  He  has  sunk  a 
short  well,  using  his  own  moujik  labor,  and  has  struck 
unmistakable  indications  that  oil  exists  there — hi  unknown 
quantity.  If  you  care  to  loan  him  the  money  through  a 
dummy,  he's  too  simple-minded  to  question  the  form  in 
which  it  comes  to  him  or  the  real  identity  of  the  lender. 
He'd  Jump  at  the  chance  to  borrow  on  his  personal  notes 
without  security — which  gives  you  opportunity  to  have 
someone  approach  him  with  marked  Bank  of  Russia  bills. 
Then,  when  he  seems  likely  to  vote  for  some  objectionable 
measure  in  the  Duma,  he  can  be  given  to  understand  that 


352  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

he  has  received  a  bribe  of  a  hundred  thousand  roubles — 
that  the  fact  will  be  made  public  unless  he  promptly  votes 
against  the  measure.' 

"'Excellent,  Olga — capital!  Have  the  money  advanced 
to  him  to-morrow  in  just  that  way — no  hint  as  to  our 
knowing  anything  of  the  matter  at  all.  Karatoff  is  becom- 
ing a  recognized  leader  in  the  Progressive  party;  I've 
been  thinking  for  several  weeks  I  should  get  some  hold 
upon  him.  Apropos — I'm  rather  expecting  Konstantine 
Pluvinskow  to  come  here  sometime  before  midnight.  I 
think  enough  hints  have  reached  him  to  cause  some  un- 
easiness in  his  mind  by  this  time.  When  he  comes,  have 
him  shown  directly  in  here.  If  I  happen  to  be  out,  tell 
him  to  stay  until  I  return.' 

"From  what  Major  Brady  told  me,  supplementing  my 
own  knowledge  of  affairs  in  Petrograd,  I  fancy  that  Alexis 
Stellanovski,  a4  he  sat  there  with  us  in  his  study,  that 
night,  had  more  underhand  power  over  a  greater  number 
of  people  than  any  other  man  in  the  Russian  empire. 
Rasputin,  the  intriguing  monk,  during  the  last  year  he 
lived,  had  more  control  over  the  Imperial  family  and  the 
Court,  through  his  hold  upon  the  Czarina,  but  Stellanov- 
ski's  influence  was  more  far-reaching,  because  it  corrupted 
men  of  all  social  grades  in  the  Council  of  the  Empire,  in 
the  Duma,  and  in  the  zemstvos  of  every  Russian  Govern- 
ment and  Province. 

"Although  physically  in  poor  health,  he  had  many  times 
the  brains  and  scheming  ability  of  either  Gazonoff,  Ossipo- 
vitch,  or  Rasputin — all  of  whom  had  been  killed  within 
the  preceding  three  weeks. 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  353 

"In  appearance,  the  man  closely  resembled  his  former 
confidant,  the  late  Baron  Mennikoff,  who  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  so  many  plots  in  London  and  Paris  during  the  years 
immediately  preceding  the  war,  and  who  was  defeated  so 
frequently  by  our  mysterious  Free  Lance.  Both  of  them 
suggested  gross,  hairy  spiders  with  overdeveloped  paunch 
and  thin  legs,  wiry  black  hair  cut  en  brosse,  close-clipped 
beard,  wearing  thick-lensed  spectacles  like  those  of  a 
German  professor.  But  where  Mennikoff  had  a  consti- 
tution that  neither  rich  foods  nor  any  sort  of  dissipation 
appeared  to  undermine,  Stellanovski  was  dyspeptic  and 
asthmatic.  As  we  sat  there  in  his  sound-proof  study, 
guarded  from  intrusion  or  spying  by  servants  whose  lives 
were  at  the  mercy  of  the  Green  Circle,  he  smoked  cubebs 
between  each  cigar  to  alleviate  the  asthmatic  paroxysms 
and  labored  so  heavily  for  breath  that,  hah*  a  dozen  times, 
I  feared  he  would  strangle  to  death  before  we  left  the  room. 
Yet  for  months  he  had  been  able  to  defeat  or  pass  any 
measure  he  chose  in  either  Council  or  Duma.  The  way 
he  handled  Pluvinskow  illustrates  some  of  his  methods. 

"Pluvinskow  was  a  member  of  the  Council,  a  man  whom 
Premier  Trepoff  was  using  at  that  moment  to  introduce 
and  put  through  his  most  important  supporting  measures 
for  the  Army  campaigns.  The  Baron  had  caused  a  num- 
ber of  hints  to  reach  him,  giving  the  Councillor  a  vague 
uneasiness  which  he  couldn't  get  rid  of.  He  knew  of  no 
good  reason  why  it  should  be  necessary  for  him  to  call 
upon  the  banker;  yet  the  hints  became  more  and  more 
insistent  that  his  life  and  reputation  might  be  jeopardized 
if  he  didn  't.  So  he  finally  turned  up  about  eleven  o  'clock 
and  was  shown  directly  into  the  study,  where  we  still 


854  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

happened  to  be  discussing  various  pro-German  plans. 
Brady  and  I  got  on  our  feet  to  leave  the  room,  but  Stel- 
lanovski  motioned  for  us  to  sit  down  again — introducing 
us  as  men  who  knew  all  about  the  caller  and  might  not  be 
quite  what  we  seemed. 

"After  opening  a  fresh  box  of  cigars  and  motioning  toward 
wine  on  the  table,  he  chatted  with  the  man  for  a  while  on 
the  political  situation,  then  he  took  from  a  drawer  hi  his 
desk  what  appeared  to  be  a  rather  lengthy  note,  in  a  square 
envelope — and  asked  Pluvinskow  to  glance  over  it. 
Brady  and  I  watched  him  without  appearing  to  do  so. 
His  expression  after  a  first  reading  was  one  of  puzzled 
amazement ;  then  the  color  went  out  of  his  face  as  he  sput- 
teringly  protested: 

'"But — my  dear  Baron,  I  don't  understand!  This 
letter  gives  the  impression  of  having  been  written  by  me 
— in  fact,  the  writing  and  the  signature  are  very  clever 
forgeries !  But ' 

"Stellanovski  wheezed  for  a  moment  or  two  until  the 
cubebs  relieved  him.  'Ah!  That  is  what  I  wished  to 
ascertain,  M'sieur  Pluvinskow.  It  didn't  seem  possible 
.to  me  that  you  could  have  written  so  compromising  a 
letter — discussed  so  dangerous  a  matter  in  writing.  But 
I  naturally  wished  to  be  sure.  This — er — note  was 
found  among  the  papers  of  a  person  recently  caused  to  be 
arrested  on  a  serious  charge  by  my  bank,  and  I  put  it  in 
my  pocket  before  any  one  had  an  opportunity  to  study  or 
identify  the  signature.  Of  course,  if  you  pronounce  it  a 
forgery  that  simplifies  my  course:  I  shall  send  it  to  Gen- 
eral Lipowski  and  have  his  secret  police  run  down  the 
criminal  if  possible.  There  happens  to  be  no  money  trans- 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          355 

action  involved,  but  we  bankers,  in  self-defense,  must 
prosecute  anything  in  the  nature  of  clever  forgery  wher- 
ever we  find  it.' 

"  Observe,  if  you  please,  the  entire  plausibility,  the  devil- 
ish ingenuity,  of  the  Baron's  position.  Pluvinskow  wet 
his  lips  and  swallowed  two  or  three  times  before  he  spoke. 

"*Er — Baron,  suppose  General  Lipowski  is  inclined  to 
doubt  my  statement  that  the  letter  is  not  genuine?  This 
signature  is  amazingly  good!  Don't  you  see  where  that 
puts  me  with  the  secret  police?  If  he  takes  the  view  that 
it  is  really  mine,  it  means  ruin  for  me — possibly  a  firing- 
squad!' 

"The  banker  was  apparently  sympathetic — undecided 
as  to  his  proper  course.  'H-m-m — you — er — think  it 
might  be  difficult  to  prove  it  a  forgery?' 

"'How  can  I  prove  it?  I've  nothing  but  my  personal 
word!  It's  not,  unfortunately,  anything  which  might 
be  cleared  by  an  alibi!  A  man  writes  notes  at  any  time, 
in  any  place.  Or  he  doesn't  I  How  is  one  to  prove  it, 
either  way?  You  have  in  your  hand  a  very  clever  and 
compromising  duplicate  of  my  writing  and  signature. 
Either  I  wrote  that  note — or  I  didn't!  But  will  Lip- 
owski and  his  police  give  me  the  benefit  of  the  doubt? 
Why  should  they?  And  if  they  don't?  There's  little 
question  as  to  what  happens  to  me ! ' 

' '  Well — but  what  the  devil  am  I  to  do  in  the  matter? 
If  you  think  Lipowski  will  doubt  your  innocence,  what 
reason  can  you  give  me  for  believing  it?  If  you  did  write 
the  letter,  there's  no  question  whatever  as  to  my  duty! 
Even  though  you  were  an  intimate  friend  of  long  stand- 
ing— which  you're  not — I  would  hardly  dare  suppress  it. 


356  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

Either  you're  too  dangerous  a  man  to  leave  unexposed  or 
you're  merely  an  unfortunate  victim  of  circumstances. 
But  if  you  can  give  me  nothing  in  the  way  of  proof,  isn  't 
it  rather  childish  of  me  to  believe  you?' 

"The  Councillor  began  to  have  a  dim  comprehension  of 
the  trap  he  was  in,  though  he  didn  't  as  yet  suspect  Stel- 
lanovski  of  deliberate  forgery;  and  he  displayed  an  amount 
of  nerve  that  we  were  forced  to  admire. 

"Baron,  we  seem  to  be  in  an  impasse  from  which  we 
must  extricate  ourselves.  I  cannot  permit  that  letter  to 
reach  Lipowski!  There  must  be  terms  upon  which  you 
are  willing  to  destroy  it — suppose  you  make  a  suggestion? ' 

"The  banker  slowly  shook  his  head.  'I  wouldn't  dare 
destroy  it,  sir.  These  gentlemen  have  heard  the  whole 
discussion.  Of  course,  had  I  supposed  for  a  moment 
that  you  couldn't  prove — eh?  But  I  think  we  all  regret 
the  position  in  which  you  are  placed.  If  we  were  personal 
friends — of  the  same  political  beliefs — I  should  be  strongly 
tempted  to  lock  up  this  letter  in  one  of  my  safety  vaults 
and  forget  it — for  the  present.  But  you  belong  to  the 
Radicals — you  are  assisting  Trepoff  to  put  through  meas- 
ures which  conservative  men,  like  us  bankers,  are  pos- 
itive will  lead  to  loss  of  business  confidence — create  panic 
conditions  even  after  the  war  is  over.  If  you  could  see 
those  measures  as  we  see  them  and  use  your  influence  to 
prevent  their  adoption  by  the  Council,  I  frankly  confess 
that  I  should  feel  differently  about  withholding  this  letter 
from  the  authorities  into  whose  hands  it  is  my  duty  to  place 
it.'  (I  saw  the  perspiration  come  out  on  Pluvinskow's 
forehead,  but  he  appeared  to  realize  what  he  was  up 
against.) 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  357 

"'That's  the  price  of  your  silence,  is  it,  Baron?  I  am 
to  use  my  influence  against  measures  of  which  you  dis- 
approve— and  you  are  to  keep  that  letter  in  a  safe  place 
as  long  as  I  do  so? '  (Stellanovski's  air  of  offended  dignity 
would  have  scored  on  the  stage.) 

' '  This  is  not  a  question  of  bargaining,  sir !  My  duty 
in  the  matter  seems  quite  clear!  If  I  defer  carrying  it  out, 
it  is  merely  to  give  you  the  opportunity  of  showing  by 
your  actions  that  you're  not  the  sort  of  man  who  could 
have  written  this  letter!  I  think  I  make  my  position 
clear  enough!  You  say  it's  a  forgery — but  can't  prove 
it.  I  would  consider  your  steady  opposition  to  Trepoff  in 
the  Council  an  argument  that  you  are  telling  the  truth. 
Conversely — the  man  who  did  write  this  letter  might 
easily  support  Trepoff.'  (A  bit  of  Italian  diplomacy! 
What?  I  saw  by  the  Major's  face  how  keenly  he  appre- 
ciated its  cleverness.) 

"Well,  that  was  just  one  instance.  When  Pluvinskovr 
left,  the  Baron  pulled  a  package  of  documents  from  a  safe 
that  was  built  into  the  wall  and  concealed  by  a  panel  of 
the  wainscoting.  He  told  us  they'd  be  useless  in  any  hands 
but  his — as  it  was,  in  each  case,  a  knowledge  of  the  individ- 
ual's  personal  affairs  which  made  the  papers  dangerous. 
But  he  mentioned  name  after  name  as  he  ran  them  over: 
deputies  then  sitting  in  the  Duma,  men  prominent  in  the 
Council  of  the  Empire  and  the  old  Congress  of  the  Nobil- 
ity, local  politicians  and  professional  men  hi  zemstoos  as 
far  away  as  Tomsk  and  Vladivostok. 

"He  was  like  a  repulsive  black  spider,  sitting  in  the 
centre  of  his  web — struggling  even  for  the  breath  of  life 
between  his  asthmatic  paroxysms,  while  every  thread  of 


358  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

the  web  was  dotted  with  flies  who  rarely  knew  how  they 
got  there  or  why  their  struggles  to  free  themselves  were 
unavailing!  I  fancy  very  few  of  his  victims  even  guessed 
the  devilish  finesse  with  which  he  patiently  worked  to  get 
them  in  his  power.  There's  little  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
it  would  have  been  impossible,  while  he  lived,  to  make 
any  permanent  headway  against  the  German  intrigue 
with  which  the  Russian  Government  was  fairly  rotten. 
I  caught  a  glance  from  Major  Brady's  eyes  while  the 
Baron  was  replacing  the  papers  in  his  safe  which  told  me 
the  man  had  got  to  go — but  we  had  neither  of  us  worked 
out  a  plan  for  eliminating  him  without  bringing  down 
destruction  upon  men  who  were  really  valuable  to  Russia. 
"At  midnight  I  had  an  appointment  to  play  auction  at 
the  Club  Anglais  on  the  Dvortsovaia,  which  is  much  fre- 
quented by  leading  politicians  and  high  Government  offi- 
cials— and  I  hadn't  been  in  the  card-room  ten  minutes 
before  I  overheard  various  discussions  of  a  speech  made  irv 
the  Duma  by  Prof.  Paul  Miliukoff,  leader  of  the  Consti 
tutional  Democrats.  It  seems  he  had  been  pitching  into, 
the  reactionaries  without  gloves — stating  instances  where 
they  had  blocked  war  measures  and  giving  names  with- 
out much  regard  to  whom  he  might  antagonize.  It 
must  have  been  a  good  bit  more  daring  than  anything 
ever  said  on  the  floor  of  the  Duma  before,  and  what  he 
hinted  must  have  bordered  upon  what  those  chaps  con- 
sidered treason  against  the  Romanoff  dynasty.  Just  as 
I  waJS  getting  interested,  Miliukoff  himself  came  in — a 
heavy-featured  man  in  a  bowler  hat — hadn  't  bothered  to 
dress  for  the  club — too  much  absorbed  in  what  he  was  try- 
ing to  do. 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  359 

"Miliukoff's  friends  were  endeavoring  to  keep  him  from 
saying  too  much  there — where  there  were  fully  as  many 
reactionaries  as  progressives — and  they  presently  drifted 
off  to  a  corner  of  the  smoking-room  with  some  young 
Russians  who  knew  me  as  the  Serbian  captain,  Gregorio 
Czech zin.  Excusing  myself  from  the  card-party  for  a  few 
minutes,  I  strolled  over  and  was  presently  introduced. 
The  Professor  gave  me  a  pretty  searching  look,  but 
appeared  to  be  satisfied  as  to  the  side  I  was  really  on. 
He  took  a  chance  which  I  never  would  have  taken  in  his 
place — but  he  was  a  fanatic  on  real  constitutional  govern- 
ment and  didn't  give  a  rap  whether  he  risked  his  life  or 
not.  As  I  shook  hands  with  him,  he  said: 

"  'Captain,  you  people  down  there  in  Serbia  will  set  up 
a  republic  very  soon  after  this  war  is  over!  It's  in  the 
air!  The  day  of  autocratic  government  is  past!  Since 
the  awakening  we  had  as  to  our  inner  rottenness  after  the 
war  with  Japan,  we  have  accomplished  more  in  Russia 
than  the  world  even  dreams,  and  the  time  is  almost  ripe 
to  throw  off  all  concealment.  Fifteen  years  ago,  men  who 
even  talked  of  what  we've  actually  accomplished  in  va- 
rious zemstvos  would  have  found  themselves  in  Siberia 
without  knowing  how  they  got  there.  I've  been  a  polit- 
ical convict  in  the  mines  myself!  To-day,  not  even  the 
dreaded  Russian  police  dare  arrest  us  for  talking  of  consti- 
tutional government.  But  this  German  intrigue  is  going 
to  strangle  us  all — undo  our  work  for  at  least  fifty  years 
unless  we  get  rid  of  it  by  drastic  measures!  Gentlemen, 
those  measures  will  be  taken  if  we  have  to  overturn  the 
entire  Russian  Government!' 

"Of  course  the  chap  had  forgotten  where  he  was  and 


360  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

who  might  be  within  earshot.  I  glanced  about — count- 
ing no  less  than  five  and  twenty  men  in  the  smoking-room, 
many  of  whom  I  knew  to  be  of  the  Green  Circle.  I  nudged 
the  Professor  by  way  of  warning,  and  then  laughed  it  off 
as  a  joke — told  him  he  'd  make  his  fortune  as  an  actor — as 
a  tragedian.  He  caught  the  point — said  he  supposed  he 
was  a  visionary  living  half  a  century  ahead  of  his  time, 
that  every  man  had  his  enthusiasms  and  liked  to  air  them 
among  friends.  Then  the  other  chaps  carried  him  off  to 
shoot  a  little  pool. 

"For  several  days  after  that,  Miliukoff  kept  himself  rather 
in  the  background  of  the  Duma — probably  realizing  that 
his  tongue  had  cancelled  whatever  life  insurance  he  might 
be  carrying.  Then  Stellanovski  's  fine  Italian  hand  began 
to  show  itself  in  the  Council.  Rasputin  had  predicted 
upon  the  night  of  his  death  that  the  Liberal  premier  Tre- 
poff — a  protege  of  Count  Witte  in  the  old  days — would  be 
forced  to  resign  very  shortly  and  would  be  succeeded  by 
Prince  Golitzine.  None  of  the  progressives  believed  that 
rumor  when  they  heard  it.  Trepoff  was  one  of  the  ablest 
men  in  Russia — a  fine  organizer,  already  bringing  order  out 
of  Stuermer's  chaos,  when  it  began  to  appear  that  he  was 
being  hampered  and  blocked  at  every  step,  even  by  men 
upon  whom  he  had  placed  the  greatest  reliance,  Pluvin- 
skow  among  them. 

"I  had  Lef tenant  Frobishcr  obtain  an  interview  with 
Pluvinskow  in  the  role  of  a  Russian  officer — and  hint 
that  he  needn't  fear  Stellanovski,  as  the  old  spider  was 
likely  to  be  squashed  at  any  moment.  But  that  forged 
letter  was  too  dangerous  for  the  Councillor  to  risk  any 
chance  of  its  reaching  Lipowski;  Frobisher  couldn't  make 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          361 

any  impression  on  him,  and  was  suspected  for  his  pains. 
Then  Major  Brady  went  to  the  General  with  the  story — 
the  plan  was  for  Lipowski  to  have  a  private  interview  with 
the  Councillor  and  tell  him  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
police.  But  Trepoff  resigned  the  premiership;  Prince 
Golitzine  succeeded  him — and  the  only  measures  dis- 
cussed in  the  Council  were  such  as  Stellanovski  most 
heartily  approved. 

"When  Pluvinskow  and  the  General  did  meet  neither 
quite  trusted  the  other;  the  Baron  had  done  his  work  so 
well  that  the  Councillor  didn  't  know  where  he  was  at  and 
preferred  blindly  to  follow  his  master's  orders  in  spite  of 
the  police  head's  assurances,  which  naturally  made  Lip- 
owski begin  really  to  suspect  him.  General  Serge  Lipow- 
ski, it  may  be  noted,  though  given  the  entire  handling  of 
the  Russian  police  by  the  Czar,  and  strongly  backed  by 
the  Congress  of  Nobles,  is  unalterably  on  the  side  of  the 
Entente,  and  the  bitterest  sort  of  an  enemy  to  Germany. 

"The  more  I  saw  of  Major  Brady,  the  more  I  admired 
the  perfect  ease  with  which  he  assumed  a  character  and 
carried  out  every  detail  until  it  seemed  impossible  that  it 
could  be  anything  but  his  normal  self.  For  example :  the 
way  he  brought  about  an  opportunity  for  us  to  go  through 
the  Baron's  safe.  It  was  far  too  risky  to  attempt  at  night; 
there  were  too  many  Green  Circle  agents  among  his  house- 
hold. Our  best  chance  was  at  some  time  when  we  were 
locked  in  the  study  with  him,  discussing  our  plans.  Yet 
how  to  render  him  unconscious,  in  a  natural  way  that 
wouldn't  arouse  his  suspicions? 

"Brady  let  it  be  inferred  that  he  had  been  a  surgeon  in 
the  British  Army — serving  his  time  in  India  and  then 


362  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

retiring  with  brevet  rank  after  coming  into  a  comfortable 
estate.  Next  morning,  when  Stellanovski  was  almost 
helpless  from  asthma,  the  Major  suggested  writing  out  a 
prescription  which  had  been  most  efficacious  in  Bengal, 
if  the  Baron  cared  to  have  it  put  up  by  his  own  chemist, 
a  perfectly  natural  and  kind  suggestion — apparently  no 
chance  for  him  to  prescribe  anything  dangerous  without 
discovery  by  the  chemist — no  opportunity  for  tampering 
with  it.  The  Baron  sent  out  for  the  stuff  at  once,  had  it 
fetched  into  the  study,  where  we  were  then  conferring  with 
him.  Tried  it.  Obtained  unquestionable  relief — was 
most  grateful  to  the  Major. 

"His  desk  was  at  the  right  of  a  window  fitted  with  double 
sashes  and  protected  by  a  steel  grille.  In  a  corner  of 
the  wall  at  his  right  was  the  panel  of  wainscoting  with 
the  safe  behind  it.  At  his  left  was  a  broad  table  upon 
which  he  spread  out  maps,  books,  and  documents  for 
Examination.  The  chairs  in  which  we  sat  were  on  the 
other  side  of  this,  with  their  backs  to  the  well-filled  book- 
shelves which  lined  that  wall  clear  to  the  door.  During 
our  talk,  he  had  opened  the  safe  to  obtain  memoranda  as 
to  the  proposed  cooperation  with  the  rising  in  Ireland — had 
then  pushed  the  door  shut  and  shoved  the  panel  in  place 
without  turning  the  combination. 

"Brady's  prescription  was  taken  in  half  a  glass  of  water — 
ten  drops  to  the  dose.  The  empty  glass,  bottle  of  med- 
icine, and  carafe  of  water  stood  on  the  table  when  he  turned 
his  back  upon  us  to  open  the  safe.  The  Major  casually 
reached  an  arm  across  the  table,  with  a  small  phial  con- 
cealed in  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and  poured  a  few  drops  of 
colorless  liquid  upon  the  bottom  of  the  glass.  Then  he 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  363 

drew  three  brimstone  matches  from  his  pocket,  held  them 
under  the  table  until  the  fumes  were  pretty  well  spread 
about,  and  dropped  them  on  the  carpet  near  the  Baron's 
feet. 

"He  had  scarcely  pushed  the  wainscoting  back  hi  place 
before  he  began  to  choke  from  the  fumes.  Saw  the  burn- 
ing matches  on  the  floor  and  stamped  them  out — thinking 
he  must  have  scraped  his  foot  across  them  as  he  turned  in 
his  swivel-chair.  (Observe  the  cleverness  with  which 
Brady  had  worked  out  his  probable  line  of  thought  and 
action.)  In  any  asthmatic,  the  fumes  of  a  brimstone 
match  instantly  produce  almost  deadly  strangulation. 
Stellanovski  was  seized  with  a  paroxysm  which  made  him 
helpless.  He  had  barely  strength  enough  to  pour  the  glass 
half  full  of  water  from  the  carafe  and  drop  in  the  medicine 
with  a  clean  fountain-pen  filler.  His  trembling  fingers 
let  slip  more  than  the  ten  drops,  but  he  didn  't  care  so  long 
as  it  relieved  him.  In  two  minutes  he  was  breathing 
easier — but  feeling  increasingly  drowsy. 

"Nothing  dangerous  in  an  overdose,  is  there,  Major? 
My  hand  was  shaking  so  that  I  got  a  little  too  much!" 

"No — not  from  the  amount  you  took.  But  it'll  pos- 
sibly make  you  feel  heavy  and  drowsy  for  a  little  while. 
You  should  have  let  me  measure  it  out — I  didn't  realize 
that  you  must  have  inhaled  the  full  strength  of  those 
match  fumes!" 

"The  Baron  smiled  in  complete  understanding — and 
settled  back  in  his  chair  as  he  began  to  breathe  comfort- 
ably again.  In  two  minutes  he  was  unconscious.  Even 
then,  there  wasn't  a  move  of  Brady's  that  was  hurried. 
He  quietly  walked  around  the  table — opened  that  safe — 


364  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

took  out  package  after  package  of  papers,  and  glanced 
over  the  memoranda  indorsed  upon  the  outside  of  them. 
Presently  he  came  back  and  sat  down  by  me  with  two 
large  bundles  which  he  untied  and  spread  upon  the  table. 
My  nerves  are  rather  dependable,  but  I  expected  every 
moment  that  the  Baron  would  regain  consciousness  or 
that  we'd  hear  a  knock  on  the  door. 

"Brady,  however,  went  through  those  papers  as  methodi- 
cally as  if  he  had  all  day  for  the  job.  He  even  made 
copies  of  half  a  dozen.  Five  others  he  took  from  the 
package  and  put  in  his  pocket.  They  would  be  missed 
eventually — but  possibly  not  for  several  weeks,  and  we 
expected  a  lot  to  happen  in  that  time.  When  he  had 
carefully  placed  everything  back  in  exactly  the  position 
he  found  it,  the  Major  closed  the  safe  door,  turned  the 
combination,  and  shoved  back  the  wainscoting.  It  was 
most  unlikely  that  the  Baron  would  remember  he  hadn  't 
locked  it  himself.  In  another  five  minutes  Brady  had 
restored  him  to  consciousness  in  a  chair  by  the  open  win- 
dow— on  our  side  of  the  long  table.  Stellanovski  had  no 
idea  that  he'd  lost  himself  for  more  than  two  or  three  min- 
utes, and  was  breathing  so  much  more  comfortably  than 
he  had  in  several  days  that  he  was  very  grateful. 

"  Had  he  discovered  the  loss  of  those  papers  within  the 
hour,  I  don 't  think  he  would  have  suspected  us  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

" Neither  Brady  nor  I  relished  the  job  of  killing  the  man. 
It's  a  rotten  thing  to  do  when  you're  guests  in  a  chap's 
house,  no  matter  how  badly  he  needs  killing.  But  every 
day  the  Baron  lived  meant  the  possible  loss  of  several 
thousand  lives  to  the  Entente. 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  365 

**Herwas  at  that  moment  the  chief  driving  force  behind 
that  cursed  Green  Circle,  with  more  than  six  thousand 
regular  and  associate  members  in  every  part  of  Russia, 
in  the  Russian  Embassies  of  every  Allied  Nation.  While 
he  lived,  terrorizing  influential  members  of  Council  and 
Duma,  it  was  impossible  to  get  any  real  concerted  action 
by  Russian  armies  in  the  field  for  more  than  a  few  weeks 
at  a  time.  Progressive  Ministers  found  themselves  myster- 
iously blocked  from  the  first  days  of  their  administration. 
The  man  had  to  be  eliminated.  If  we  funked  the  job 
ourselves,  we  had  to  find  some  other  way — that  was  all 
there  was  to  the  proposition.  And  that's  why  the  Major 
went  through  those  papers  in  the  safe;  he  wished  to  find  a 
document  that  would  start  something. 

"Of  course  we  couldn't  examine  closely  those  we  had 
taken  in  the  Baron's  house — quite  too  risky.  We  motored 
down  to  the  British  Embassy  and  locked  ourselves  in  an 
upper  room.  Presently  we  came  across  two  notes  on 
crested,  scented  paper  in  a  woman's  handwriting — com- 
mencing 'My  dear  Alexis' — asking  for  immediate  loans 
of  fifteen  and  twenty  thousand  roubles — referring  to  pre- 
vious loans — signed  with  initials.  On  the  back  of  the 
outside  one  the  banker  had  pencilled  by  way  of  reference 
the  name  'Wirdanoff.'  Brady  decided,  after  a  few  min- 
utes' consideration,  that  it  must  refer  to  the  beautiful 
young  wife  of  Stanislas  Wirdanoff,  a  deputy  from  Odessa. 
He  was  known  to  be  completely  infatuated  with  her;  it 
had  been  rumored  even  that  he  deferred  to  her  judgment 
in  political  matters.  This  told  us  exactly  how  the  Baron's 
influence  had  been  used — except  that  we  believed  both 
letters  to  be  forgeries  used  to  coerce  her.  The  girl  had  had 


366  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

the  appearance  of  being  on  the  verge  of  a  nervous  break- 
down for  a  month. 

"Just  as  we  were  considering  how  we  might  use  these 
letters,  the  news  of  Miliukoff  's  attack  upon  the  ministry, 
in  the  Duma,  went  roaring  through  the  city.  Stellanov- 
ski  told  us  after  dinner,  that  night,  of  the  arrangements 
he'd  made  to  have  the  Professor  killed  before  morning; 
we  had  to  invent  pressing  engagements  in  order  to  get  out 
of  his  house  in  time  to  catch  Miliukoff  in  his  own  quarters 
and  hustle  him  off  in  a  limousine  to  the  British  Embassy. 
Later,  disguised  as  a  footman  on  the  front  seat  of  the 
Embassy  landaulet,  we  ran  him  over  the  ice  past  Kron- 
stadt  and  put  him  abroad  E-69. 

"We  urged  him  to  run  across  the  Baltic  for  a  while  and 
lie  doggo  in  Stockholm — but  he  refused.  Said  that,  unless 
he  could  somehow  keep  in  touch  with  the  Zemstvo  organ- 
ization, all  their  work  of  the  previous  two  years  might 
be  wiped  out  by  the  Green  Circle  and  Camarilla. 

Next  evening,  by  special  invitation,  Brady  and  I  dined 
with  the  Princess  Xenia  and  McMurtagh  at  the  Tarazine 
Palace.  I  had  known  that  most  of  her  associates  among 
the  nobility  were  reactionaries,  and  the  Honorable 
Aloysius  had  told  us  that  she  was  a  member  of  the  Green 
Circle;  so  we  were  quite  bowled  over  when  she  took  us  up 
to  the  library  of  her  private  suite  with  him  and  Michael 
Rodzianko,  the  President  of  the  Duma — informing  us 
that  she  had  gone  over  to  the  progressives.  Neither 
Brady  nor  I  would  have  given  her  a  week  to  live  after  her 
defiant  cutting  loose  from  the  Green  Circle;  they  certainly 
wouldn't  lose  her  personal  influence  and  great  wealth 
tamely,  not  to  mention  the  things  she  was  in  position  to 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          367 

disclose.  But  McMurtagh  told  us  she  had  placed  a 
written  statement  and  list  of  names  with  her  executors 
to  be  made  public  immediately  upon  report  of  her  death 
or  disappearance — and  they  didn't  dare  lay  a  finger  OB 
her. 

"We  didn't  entirely  trust  her  or  Rodzianko  until  they 
began  commending  Miliukoff's  speech  in  the  Duma  and 
planning  a  safe  refuge  for  him  where  he  could  still  keep  in 
touch  with  the  progressive  leaders.  None  but  ourselves 
knew  where  the  man  had  disappeared  to  after  he  left  the 
British  Embassy.  The  Princess  feared  he  had  been  cap- 
tured by  Stellanovski's  murderers — until  we  told  her  he 
was  in  a  safe  place.  McMurtagh  asked  if  the  Professor 
would  be  safe  in  her  palace — which  is  a  miniature  replica 
of  Hampton  Court,  and  contains  suites  where  a  person 
might  live  for  months  without  being  seen  by  others  in  the 
building.  She  said  that  her  servants  were  devoted  to  her 
— would  answer  for  the  concealment  and  safety  of  any 
one  in  the  palace.  We  were  commissioned  to  submit  the 
proposition  and  see  what  the  Professor  thought  of  it. 

"He  didn't  hesitate  an  instant — said  he'd  known  for 
some  time  that  the  Princess  Xenia  Tarazine  was  really 
more  democratic  than  many  of  the  zemstvo  leaders.  We 
brought  him  to  the  palace  next  evening  and  he  stayed 
there  nearly  a  month.  Then  we  had  a  conference  in  that 
secluded  library  which  made  me  jolly  well  fancy  I  must 
be  out  of  my  head. 

"You  know,  while  Germany  is  considered  almost  the 
limit  in  the  way  of  military  autocracy,  Russia  has  been, 
for  centuries,  the  most  absolute  despotism  in  the  world. 
To  suggest  for  one  moment  the  near  possibility  of  a  real 


368  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

democracy  in  the  Russian  Empire  would  hav«  gotten  a 
man  laughed  out  of  any  Chancellery  in  Europe.  Yet  the 
Princess — who  traces  her  ancestry  back  to  Ghenghis 
Khan — the  President  of  the  Duma,  and  Professor  Miliu- 
koff  began  seriously  to  discuss  just  that  possibility.  In- 
stinctively I  got  out  of  my  chair  to  examine  the  doors  and 
windows — for,  if  what  they  were  saying  happened  to  be 
overheard  either  by  one  of  the  Green  Circle  or  any  officer 
of  the  Court,  I  wouldn't  have  given  much  for  our  chance 
of  living  twelve  hours.  Mind  you,  we'd  been  having  two 
or  three  assassinations  of  prominent  men  every  day  or  so, 
for  months;  aye,  and  women,  too — countesses,  Court 
beauties,  wives  and  daughters  of  well-known  men. 

"I  gathered  from  a  study  of  Xenia's  face,  as  she  talked, 
that  she  was  secretly  quite  infatuated  with  McMurtagh — 
he  was  a  handsome  chap,  with  a  most  charming  person- 
ality— and  that  he'd  been  largely  responsible  for  her 
coming  over  to  the  progressive  side.  It  seems  he  and 
young  Prince  Kussupoff  were  of  the  party  which  abducted 
Rasputin  the  night  after  he  insulted  the  Princess  in  her 
own  palace,  and  were  present  when  the  mysterious  woman 
shot  him.  That  caught  her  fancy.  However — getting 
back  to  their  discussion — Miliukoff  began  giving  details 
of  the  progressive  organization  which  amazed  me.  I 
knew  Russia  had  been  greatly  humiliated  by  the  drubbing 
she  got  in  the  Japanese  war,  but  had  supposed  the  feeling 
confined  almost  entirely  to  the  aristocracy — didn't  think 
the  people  had  enough  interest  in  the  Government  to 
bother  their  heads  about  such  a  question.  I  knew,  of 
course,  that  the  whole  country  had  been  working  together 
in  the  effort  to  defeat  Germany.  But  Miliukoff 's  talk 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          369 

left  me  stunned.  I  couldn  't  help  firing  a  sarcastic  ques- 
tion at  him. 

"'One  infers,  Professor,  that  you  think  you  can  visualize 
enough  power,  eventually,  to  make  Nicholas  abdicate? 
Eh?'  (It  was  the  most  utter  nonsense,  of  course!) 
Imagine  my  feelings  when  he  calmly  replied — after  light- 
ing a  fresh  cigarette : 

"'Were  it  not  for  some  underhand  influence  in  both 
Council  and  Duma,  Captain — influence  which  has  baffled 
us  so  far,  and  which  we're  unable  to  ferret  out — I  would 
place  the  Czar's  abdication  not  later  than  the  first  day  of 
April— All  Fools'  Day.' 

"'Surely,  Man,  you  can't  be  in  earnest!  Consider 
where  you  are — the  sort  of  country  you're  in!  Consider 
what  has  been  happening  every  day  to  men  who  have  held 
opinions  not  a  hundredth  part  as  treasonable  as  yours!' 
(Xenia  was  looking  at  the  man  in  wide-eyed  amazement — 
but  with  quite  evident  admiration  at  the  very  audacity  of 
his  dreaming.) 

"'Russia  has  changed  almost  unbelievably  since  this 
war  began,  Captain;  it  has  shaken  our  social  structure 
to  its  very  foundations.  Germany  started  the  war  solely 
from  the  determination  of  the  kaiser  and  his  military 
aristocracy  to  conquer  the  world  and  bring  it  under  Ger- 
man rule.  Russia  has  fought  from  a  determination  of 
the  common  people  to  make  that  sort  of  thing  hereafter 
impossible.  Do  you  think  that  for  a  hundred  years  or 
more  some  of  the  best  educated  people  in  a  vast  country 
like  this  can  be  exiled  to  lives  of  torment  in  the  Siberian 
mines  for  no  greater  offence  than  free-thinking  without 
having  a  leaven  of  determination  working  constantly 


370  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

through  the  mass  to  its  bottom  layers!  The  Nihilists 
gave  the  first  indication  of  this  determination  to  change 
such  conditions — and  were  shot  for  their  crimes,  as  they 
deserved  to  be.  Individual  assassination  amounted 
merely  to  murder — it  was  opposing  a  child's  pop-gun  to 
a  forty -two  centimetre  cannon.  The  Russian  people 
revere  the  Czar,  as  a  man — though  few  of  them  consider 
him  divine.  We  have  no  wrish  to  injure  him,  but  he  is 
showing  himself  incapable  of  governing  us;  he  sometimes 
listens  to  German  intrigue  when  he  ought  to  shoot  the 
man  or  woman  who  whispers  it.  He  makes  strong,  patri- 
otic decisions — but  lacks  the  punch  to  put  them  in  prac- 
tice regardless  of  opposition.  So — after  a  little  while — 
we  shall  ask  him  to  retire  to  private  life  and  permit  some 
abler  man  to  run  the  nation.' 

"Really,  you  know,  I  had  to  pinch  myself!  That  sort  of 
talk  in  Russia!  But  there  was  a  sanity  about  it  so  very 
different  from  the  Nihilist  rot  one  always  hears  in  Petro- 
grad  and  Moscow  that  it  gripped  me — just  as  it  did  Her 
Highness  and  Rodzianko.  I  could  see  that  she  was  mull- 
ing it  over  in  her  mind;  presently  she  began  asking  ques- 
tions— slowly,  carefully,  considering  exactly  what  she 
wanted  to  get  at  before  she  spoke. 

"'You  say,  Professor,  that  you're  blocked  just  now  by 
some  influence  in  the  Government  which  you  can  neither 
combat  nor  trace?  Have  you  no  idea  of  the  people  who 
might  be  responsible  for  it?' 

"'Well,  presumably  the  Green  Circle,  Your  Highness — 
but  one  hears  there  are  six  thousand  or  more  members, 
and  has  no  idea  whether  they  are  one's  immediate  confreres 
upon  the  floor  of  the  Duma  or  the  acquaintances  with 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT  371 

whom  one  lunches  at  the  restaurants.  Some  of  the  aris- 
tocracy are  members — some  are  not.  Whom  is  one  to  sus- 
pect? Of  all  who  may  be  in  such  an  organization,  who  are 
the  real  leaders  behind  it?  If  we  were  sure  of  then*  iden- 
tity, where  are  we  to  get  sufficient  proof  to  curtail  their 
activities  in  the  Government?  I  assure  you  it  is  like  an 
invisible  wall  of  granite  against  which  we  bump  our  heads 
and  bruise  our  brains  without  making  progress!  I  be- 
lieve one  half  the  well-meaning  deputies  in  the  Duma, 
and  at  least  one  third  of  the  Councillors,  are  being  terror- 
ized by  an  influence  which  they  dare  not  defy!  Give  me 
some  lever  by  which  I  can  pry  that  fear  off  their  minds, 
and  I  believe  I  could  get  together  a  revolutionary  major- 
ity in  forty -eight  hours! 

"'I  can  name  to  you  three  leaders  of  the  Green  Circle 
who  have  recently  been  eliminated  very  opportunely. 
If  they  had  lived,  Russia  would  have  experienced  another 
overwhelming  catastrophe  within  the  last  week.  They 
were  Rasputin,  Count  Boris  Gazonoff,  and  General  Ivan 
Ossipovitch,  who  was  on  the  point  of  sending  thirty  muni- 
tion trains  wandering  all  over  Siberia  instead  of  to  their 
destination  on  the  western  front.' 

"  Here  the  Major  quietly  came  into  the  discussion  with  a 
remark  so  full  of  unbelievable  possibilities  that  I  found 
myself  gasping  at  what  it  opened  up: 

"'And  I,  Professor,  can  give  you  the  name  of  the  Chief 
who  plays  with  the  Green  Circle  like  a  set  of  chessmen — 
the  gross  black  spider  who  wheezes  in  the  centre  of  the 
web  and  catches  political  flies  upon  every  thread  of  it. 
Baron  Alexis  Stellanovski  is  the  man.  In  a  safe,  at  his 
mansion  on  the  Aptekarsky,  are'files  of  blackmailing  docu- 


372  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

ments  which  enable  him  to  control  your  fellow-deputies 
and  the  Councillors.  The  Captain  and  I  have  examined 
nearly  all  of  them;  some  are  now  in  our  possession.  I 
think  it  will  be  possible,  inside  of  a  week,  to  hand  over 
each  of  those  documents  to  the  individual  it  has  been 
threatening  for  months,  or  years — because — do  you  know 
—I  fancy  that  Stellanovski  is  a  dying  man.  Say  Friday 
night — not  later  than  Saturday  morning,  anyhow — I 
think  his  undertaker  should  be  notified.  Unless  I'm 
very  much  mistaken,  a  certain  outraged  husband  will 
call  upon  him  a  few  hours  before  that  time.' 

"There  was  a  dead  silence  for  a  moment.  Then  Miliu- 
koff  drew  a  long  sigh  and  lighted  a  fresh  cigarette. 

"'Major,'  he  said,  'if  you  can  deliver  those  documents, 
as  you  say,  and  if  they  have  the  effect  which  you  imply,  I 
salute  you  as  the  man  who  makes  imperial  autocratic 
Russia — a  democracy!  It  needs  merely — only — what 
you  say  you  can  do.' 

"Of  course  it  was  fine — gave  one  thrills  and  all  that; 
but  one  couldn't  escape  the  feeling  that  it  was  bally  rot, 
just  the  same.  Overturning  an  absolute  monarchy  with 
a  hundred  and  eighty  million  subjects  who've  not  even 
had  a  constitution  for  more  than  twelve  years  isn't  as 
simple  as  all  that! 

"To  my  amazement,  however,  neither  McMurtagh  nor 
Major  Brady  seemed  to  fancy  the  thing  impossible.  They 
began  planning  things  for  the  next  few  days  as  methodi- 
cally as  if  they  had  a  fighting  chance  of  pulling  them  off. 
And  the  Princess  Xenia,  mind  you,  was  as  crazy  with 
enthusiasm  as  Miliukoff  himself — said  that  autocratic 
government  in  this  Twentieth  Century  was  as  much  out 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          373 

of  date  as  slavery,  to  which  it  was  closely  related.  This 
from  a  Russian  aristocrat,  if  you  please! 

"When  Brady  and  I  left  the  Palace  Tarazine,  I  felt  as  if 
I  were  merely  one  of  the  procession — things  were  moving 
a  bit  too  fast  for  me. 

"Next  morning,  we  called  upon  the  deputy  Stanislas 
Wirdanoff,  at  the  hotel  where  he  maintained  a  suite. 
He  was  a  fine,  upstanding  chap  with  snapping  black  eyes 
and  a  lot  of  go  to  him — you'd  say  he'd  be  as  jealous  as 
Othello  where  any  woman  belonging  to  him  was  concerned. 
Brady  got  at  his  errand  in  so  quiet  and  courteous  a  way 
that  the  fellow  didn  't  go  off  half -shot  as  men  of  his  tem- 
perament are  likely  to  do.  He  looked  at  the  letters  the 
Major  handed  him — listened  to  the  statement  that  we 
both  knew  Stellanovski  to  be  a  forger  and  had  no  doubt 
he  had  intimidated  Madame  Wirdanoff  with  deliberately 
forged  letters.  The  point  which  seemed  to  occupy  his 
mind  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else  was  that  the 
Baron  had  terrorized — tormented — his  passionately  loved 
wife  until  she  was  a  nervous  wreck. 

"The  devilish  wording  of  the  letters  showed  why  she 
hadn't  dared  come  to  him  with  them.  Also  he  was  evi- 
dently remembering  his  votes  upon  certain  measures  in 
the  Duma — votes  which  her  supposed  wishes  had  most 
certainly  influenced,  and  which  he  now  saw  had  betrayed 
his  country  into  political  chaos  at  a  time  when  every 
effort  should  have  been  exerted  toward  a  rigorous  prose- 
cution of  the  war.  Presently  he  said  that  he  should  have 
to  see  the  Baron  personally — in  some  public  place,  if  pos- 
sible. I  told  him  that  Stellanovski  intended  to  occupy 
a  box  during  the  Diaghileff  Ballet  at  the  Theatre  Marie, 


374  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

that  night,  and  he  thanked  me  rather  effusively  for  the 
information. 

"When  we  left  him,  Brady  hurried  me  up  to  the  Club 
Anglais — after  telephoning  General  Lipowski  to  meet  us 
there.  Serge  Lipowski  was  too  good  a  diplomat,  himself, 
to  go  blundering  through  the  club  inquiring  for  us;  we 
happened  upon  each  other  quite  by  accident  in  the  bil- 
liard room  when  it  was  practically  empty.  The  Major 
told  him  that  Stanislas  Wirdanoff  would  be  at  the  Theatre 
Marie  that  night,  and  would  probably  kill  one  of  the  Green 
Circle  leaders  whom  he  had  every  right  to  kill.  He  sug- 
gested that  Lipowski's  secret  police  be  on  hand  to  arrest 
Wirdanoff,  temporarily,  in  order  to  save  him  from  being 
wiped  out  by  the  Green  Circle — and  the  General  promptly 
agreed  to  this. 

"Then  Brady  said  that  while  Baron  Stellanovski  was 
away  from  home  that  evening  he  wanted  the  house  raided 
and  everyone  in  it  taken  away  before  he  returned — it 
being  understood  that  not  a  soul  would  be  in  the  house 
when  he  came  back  and  that  there  would  be  no  evidence 
of  any  disturbance  about  the  place.  The  impression 
given  Lipowski,  of  course,  was  that  we'd  be  waiting  for 
the  Baron  ourselves,  and  were  planning  to  do  something 
with  him.  This  would  prevent  the  police  from  searching 
the  house  for  papers  when  the  arrests  were  made  and  find- 
ing that  safe.  You  see,  we  had  our  own  uses  for  those 
papers.  In  other  hands,  they  might  gum  things  up — and 
certainly  would  not  be  used  as  we  proposed,  even  though 
the  General  was  on  our  side. 

"The  more  I  saw  of  Brady  and  McMurtagh,  the  more 
I  admired  the  precision  with  which  their  brains  worked. 


CAPT.  CREIGHTON'S  ACCOUNT          375 

They  were  psychologically  accurate,  every  time.  Every- 
thing came  out  exactly  as  we  had  planned.  Stellanovski's 
house  was  raided  and  his  people  arrested  at  about  ten  in 
the  evening.  At  eleven  we  got  in  with  keys  which  Brady 
had  obtained — and  sat  smoking  in  the  Baron's  study  for 
hah*  an  hour,  apparently  waiting  for  his  return.  We 
knew,  of  course,  that  Lipowski  would  conceal  one  of  his 
men  about  the  place  to  see  what  was  going  on.  Presently 
I  got  up  and  stood  in  the  doorway,  yawning,  while  the 
Major  cleaned  out  that  safe  and  the  desk.  We  had  fetched 
a  portmanteau  into  the  house  with  us,  and  took  it  out 
again — when  we  had  answered  the  telephone's  insistent 
ringing  and  heard  that  Stellanovski  had  been  shot  in  his 
loge  at  the  theatre.  Lipowski's  man  overheard  the  conver- 
sation, wherever  he  was  concealed — and  saw  no  reason  for 
stopping  us.  I  believe  the  General  thinks  we  played  a 
sharp  trick  upon  him,  though  he  has  never  referred  to 
it. 

"By  the  end  of  the  week  every  one  of  those  documents 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  man  or  woman  it  had  threatened 
— with  assurance  that  they  had  nothing  more  to  fear  from 
the  Baron. 

"Then  things  began  to  happen.  The  opposition  in  the 
Duma  increased  until  Nicholas  prorogued  it.  But  for 
the  first  time  in  Russian  history,  the  people  refused 
obedience  to  an  Imperial  ukase.  They  laughed  at  it.  The 
Duma  and  Council  passed  resolutions  abolishing  mon- 
archistic  government.  Nicholas,  who  had  been  for  a  year 
near  the  armies  on  the  western  front,  with  the  Caarevitch, 
had  no  knowledge  of  what  had  actually  happened  until 
hit  train  was  stopped  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Petrograd. 


376  THE  UNSEEN  HAND 

He  was  like  a  chip  tossed  upon  the  surface  of  a  heaving 
ocean. 

"The  rest  is  current  history  which  may  be  read  in  the 
newspaper  files  of  all  libraries.  To-day  Russia  is  to  all 
intents  a  republic — but,  from  our  experience  with  the 
many  seething  undercurrents — the  ignorance  of  the  masses 
and  the  anarchist  opposition  to  all  government — I'd  wager 
a  good  bit  that  a  reign  of  terror  is  coming,  throughout  the 
country,  which  will  make  the  French  Revolution  a  comedy 
by  comparison. 

"Within  the  last  hour  it  has  been  hinted  to  me  that  one 
of  our  confreres  in  Petrograd  was  the  famous  Diplomatic 
Free  Lance  himself.  I  had  a  suspicion  of  this  more  than 
once — though  I  can't  decide  which  of  the  two  he  could 
have  been — McMurtagh  or  Brady.  They  both  had  an 
active  hand  in  the  revolution — no  question  as  to  that. 
In  fact,  I'm  inclined  to  think  they  made  it  possible  for 
Miliukoff  to  succeed." 

THE   END 


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